The Mercy File
by Chemistry God
Summary: High School!AU In a world of ever-changing politics and a growing terrorist threat, teenagers sign up for the military before adulthood. Struggle plagues the 104th Cadets. Dark times await them unless they can band together as one, coherent, unit. They train to fight evil, but the true enemy lies within the ranks of the trainees. Multi-Ship, Multi-POV. Yumikuri-centric.
1. Chapter 1: Ymir

**A/N: Chemistry God here! Hey guys. Glad to be writing a new story! I am not going to reveal any more than what the summary stated, I want there to be a lot of surprises! I will say this, however: The plot is not what it seems. Stay alert! The story is planned to be around 100,000 words. If there needs to be more, there will be. 2,000-3,000 words per chapter will be pretty normal. Anyway, without further adieu, I present to you The Mercy File (Until You Break)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Ymir**

 **Tuesday, September 8th, 2015**

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the calendar right across from my bed. The days proceeding today were crossed off in an angry red. It was the first day of school. And the fifth year anniversary, if you could even call it that, of my mother's death. A dull ache thrummed through my chest, the pain all too familiar. It is a wound that will never heal, never get better. There will always be a brand of my mother's name on my heart. I swallowed the lump in my throat, and sat up on my bed. Seconds later, my alarm blared, startling me. I clenched my fist and slammed it down on the snooze button. The silence that followed was bliss. That alarm clock was fucking stupid, it was noisier than sailor-level drunk Connie. _Man,_ did that kid annoy the shit out of me. Almost as much as this alarm did. I needed to buy a new one at the store when I had the chance.

I ran a hand through my hair, giving a shuddering sigh, my eyes returning to the calendar. I could feel my intestines do a somersault as I was greeted by the nostalgic smell of spices that existed only in memory. The spices my mom used to cook her _carne frita_ using ingredientsx like _adobo_ and _sofrito._ _Hey Mom. I hope you have a good day, wherever you're at. God better be taking care of you, otherwise I'll kick his sorry ass. Make sure Dad doesn't get in trouble at work today. That's all I have, I'll repent or whatever after I've done something stupid._

I closed my eyes, wanting to go back to sleep . All last night I dreamed about school and my mom. I remembered, if only vaguely, a German Shepard trotting through my subconscious. I felt drained, and a little fuzzy. I really didn't want to go to school. Why on earth would I want to go to a place I really couldn't care less about, full of people I wanted to strangle with my bare hands? But, as Commander Erwin told us, our school is different. Better. I almost snorted at the thought. Our school was no different. There was still the same bullshit, same drama, same teenagers. The only difference was that they put us in uniforms and expected us to fight once we graduate high school.

At my other side was the window. The sun, brilliant and yellow, shined through the thin curtains of my room. Clothes, some filthy, some clean, were strewn about my room. No wrappers from candy or chips, or bottles of drinks were to be found though. I may be a slob, but I was a neat one. I stood from my bed, and stretched, relishing the warmth of the sun. The coldness of my room was starting to seep into my toes. The cold spread to the rest of my body, that was only dressed in a pair of smiley-face boxers.

With a little yawn, I shuffled to my drawer. I pulled out a pair of relatively clean, black, skinny jeans. After pulling my boxers off and replacing them with a pair of smaller boy shorts, I slid the pants on. Today was the first day. We weren't fitted for uniforms yet. The coldness of the room was really starting to spread. I was going to have to yell at my dad to turn up the fucking thermostat. this conversation would inevitably end with him telling me to use a blanket, or put on some pajamas. Both requests would be met with fierce resistance. Blankets were far too constricting, and my lady parts needed some air at the end of the day, so pajamas were out of the question.

I put a white sports bra, and t-shirt to match, on. I searched the top of my drawer for my wallet, which held my school I.D. It was nowhere to be found. I cursed under my breath and gave up after, like, three seconds of searching for my wallet. I slouched to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth and hair, I bounded down the stairs by twos, sometimes threes. My dad was already sitting at the table. He was drinking a cup of coffee, with "#1 Dad" printed in almost chicken scratch. I had made that mug for him when I was, like, six years old? Since then, my handwritten hasn't improved in the least. He was reading the newspaper. He folded the paper down to have a look at me. His gray eyes looked tired. He muttered something about not stomping down the stairs.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked him, reaching for a box of _Froot Loops_ at the top of the pantry.

"Enough," He responded gruffly, returning to look at the newspaper. "How about you, Ymir?"

"Thought about Mom a lot," I admitted.

My dad paused. Took another sip of his black coffee. Sat it down. "Me too."

I blinked in surprise. Usually my dad wasn't into that whole entire 'share your feelings with the group' mindset. It ran in the family. I was more like my dad than my mom. He was quiet but not shy, bitter but not broken, strong in body but not mind. We were carbon copies of each other. We both thrived off of sarcastic humor, and often, the stupidity of others. He, like me, didn't have the best brains. My dad joked about what we Peterbridge's lack in brains, we make up in ambition. He was a driven business man. Not quite CEO or anything, but he was up there. He managed some sort of company that supplied specialized goods to the police. I didn't know the specifics because I really didn't care.

My mom...She was the life and soul of the family. She was Puerto Rican, which accounted for my deeply tan skin. She was loud, beautiful, tall, loving...My throat constricted at the thought. I pushed the feelings out of my mind and began to eat my cereal. I was nothing like my mother, anyway.

"You ready for the first day?" My dad asked.

"Unf," I said through a mouthful of _Froot Loops._

He folded up his newspaper. A peppered gray eyebrow quirked up. "Classy."

I gave him a smirk and drank the milk from my bowl down. "Have you thought about the dog yet?"

"Answer is still no."

"Why do you gotta be a heartless bastard?" I snorted. "A dog is man's best friend."

He chuckled, and stood up from the table. He grabbed the keys from the coffee table. "I'll think about it. Maybe."

I internally fist pumped. I had been asking for a dog ever since, well, ever. I was almost eighteen years old, damn it! I needed a dog. I left my bowl and spoon at the table, and it was my intention to leave them there. I could almost _feel_ dad's glare at the back of my head. With a defeated sigh, I returned to the table and put the dishes into the sink.

"Remember to do the dishes when you get home."

I waved him off. "Yeah, yeah."

"Don't forget," He warned. "Otherwise, no dog for you."

"You wouldn't dare," I responded.

He opened the door to the garage. "You know I don't bluff," He called as he left the house.

I found my backpack, that was filled to the brim with supplies, as I didn't even bother to attend open house. I was too busy playing _Assassin's Creed_ for that shit. I almost regretted my decision as I slung the backpack over my shoulders. Almost.

I left the house by 7:00 A.M. It must have rained last night, before the sun rose. The smell of rain filled my nose as I walked down the driveway. I opted out of taking my motorcycle to school. Annie had thrown a fucking _awesome_ party a few days ago, and I was so hammered, I'm still a little hungover, like a lingering cloud over my head. I paused at the base of the driveway, taking a deep breath in.

Annie and I dated briefly last year for about two months in the fall. The relationship was not all that emotionally engaging, but I didn't want a super serious relationship. She was a damn good kisser, and she knew where to touch and _how._ Not that we hooked up or anything, it was just some heavy petting. My throat bobbed up and down at the memories of many make out sessions. I kind of missed being able to just to throw myself at someone and not have any consequences. Not that I would ever, ever, be caught dead admitting that.

I wasn't the type to feel more than I needed to. It was a survival instinct, to block out the emotion, and what inevitably comes with emotion; pain. It's what has been keeping me alive ever since a drunk driver decided to take my mother away from me. I didn't know much about Annie, nor did I want to know her life story, but I knew she had the survivalist's instinct, too. Survivors either hate each other, or stick together. Once we realized that two sarcastic assholes in one relationship was too much to bear, we broke up. We've kept on pretty good terms since then. She was pretty much my only friend. Not that we were close. We didn't share our secrets; they were our own. I was at Maria High School to receive an education, not to make friends. Anybody in my regiment was annoying as hell. The regulars, who call us 'ROTC Nazi's' (Wrought-see was how they said it. They thought it was really clever to rhyme the acronym with Hitler's goons.), were even more unbearable. They were constantly trying to pick fights with us, always sneering at us, always calling us government puppets.

Lucky for them, I wasn't willing to risk being suspended to turn their skins inside out. Because trust me, the bastards and their barbed tongues have said some pretty awful stuff. None of them had the balls to directly insult me. I was just as tall as the average guy, and just as strong thanks to training. I knew for damn sure I was the better fighter. I was being trained by the elite of the elite!

I almost tripped over my own feet because I was so engrossed in my thoughts. I started to walk again towards the bus stop. The leaves of the trees were just starting to tint orange, my favorite color. My eyes wandered to the house in front of mine. I always thought the house had better trees than my own. They were massive oak trees, and super mature, too. The house had been for sale for months. A few days ago, it was sold. I hadn't seen who moved into the house, not a single soul. The only evidence of anybody living there was a small gray car parked out in the driveway.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I dug into my jeans and retrieved the device. I unlocked it with the slide of a thumb.

 _[Annie Leonhardt, 7:06 A.M.]: Hey._

 _[Ymir Peterbridge, 7:06 A.M.]: Enthusiastic as always, huh?_

 _[Annie Leonhardt, 7:07 A.M.]: Fuck off, Peterbridge._

 _[Ymir Peterbridge, 7:07 A.M.]: What do you need, little blondy?_

I could almost sense the rage from the cold-hearted shortie. I couldn't help but smirk as I imagined Annie's scowl.

 _[Annie Leonhardt, 7:08 A.M.]: I would be careful who you are calling little. Besides. I don't want anything. I was trying to help you out._

 _[Ymir Peterbridge, 7:08 A.M]: Oh really?_

 _[Annie Leonhardt, 7:08 A.M]: Your wallet. You left it at my house._

My eyes widened. No wonder I hadn't been able to find the stupid thing!

 _[Ymir Peterbridge, 7:09 A.M.]: I was pretty hammered so that doesn't surprise me…_

I put my phone back into my pocket. The bus rolled to a stop, a few feet away from where I stood. I rolled my shoulders and entered the bus. Annie was in the middle of the bus, seated to the left side. She was holding up a familiar-looking, worn, black, wallet that was no doubt my own. The bus driver, taking no heed to whether or not I was seated, sped off like he was being chased by the cops. I lurched backwards, almost falling over. I caught myself as I tried to get to Annie, who impatiently held my wallet out into the walkway.

Then, the moronic bus driver slammed the brakes as if his life depended on it. I fell down, flat on my face. I could feel the rough floor of the bus scrape my face. I groaned as I staggered up. I turned around to face the front of the bus to see what the idiot stopped for.

My stomach jumped up to my throat. A small girl, blonde and blue-eyed, walked on to the bus. I glanced back at Annie, who gave me a knowing look. She knew I had a type; small, blonde, blue-eyed, the classic All-American sweetheart. Not that Annie was, by any means, a sweetheart. But she did fit the look...

I stood from the ground and eyed the newcomer, taking a seat. She apologized to the bus driver for being late, and stepped into the walkway. Her hair fell out of her face. I squinted, then recognized who the girl was. I knew her once, back in middle school. The girl... I used to bully her relentlessly in middle school. She changed a lot, lost a lot of weight. Her blue eyes met mine. Recognition flowed through them.

The girl was no other than Krista Lenz.

* * *

 **A/N: For those who do not know, ROTC is "Reserve Officer Training Core" Italicized foods are classic Puerto Rican dishes and spices.**


	2. Chapter 2: Ymir

**Chapter 2: Ymir**

 **Tuesday, September 8th, 2015**

Blood began to trickle down my face. I swallowed and stared out the window, feeling sicker and sicker by the minute. I tried to keep my expression neutral, but I could occasionally see Annie glance over at me. I don't know if she was smug or concerned, but I chose not to return those glances. I wiped my face into the crook of my elbow. Blood, red and wet, smeared across my skin. I was cold, but I was sweating bullets at the same time. Waves of shame hit me in the stomach like a sucker punch.

I never expected to see Krista Lenz in my lifetime ever again. I never thought I would see the chubby girl who was too happy, too kind. Too fake. She was hiding something underneath all that kindness. I almost sneered at the memory, but I reigned myself in. I was cruel to her. Mean. I didn't have an excuse, I really didn't. Only that my mother died when I was only in seventh grade. I never was nice before, but after...after Mom died, I was so bitter, so vicious, always looking for a fight, a victim, someone to let my anger out on. Krista never fought back. She would always look at me, straight in the eye, and take it. She would take the verbal whip of my barbed tongue, the shoving in the hallways, my unprovoked temper tantrums. I tore at her body type. Nothing was off limits. I called her fat, ugly (even though she really wasn't), worthless, stupid, a bitch, fake. Eren tried to jump in and defend her a couple of times. Mikasa and I threw punches over it. To this day, I still don't understand why Krista Lenz was the target of my rage. Why did I focus on her? She did nothing wrong. She didn't kill my mom. She never said a word against me.

Then, after the third quarter of seventh grade, she dropped off of the face of the earth. Nobody knew where she went, or with who. Mikasa blamed me for her leaving. Krista was really her only girl friend in middle school. I didn't argue with the assessment. It was then that I finally woke up from my hateful frenzy. After, I was too hollow to be angry at anyone, or anything. I retreated deep into myself, and ignored just about everybody except my dad. I lost most of my friends in middle school, not that I had many to begin with. I wasn't popular at all. Before Krista left, sometimes Armin and I would talk. Mikasa and Eren were probably my closest at the time, even though they were a year younger than me. We were in the same grade. I was older because I failed kindergarten out of disciplinary issues. That embarrassing fact aside, I was never _super_ close with the three of them because of that, but they were the only friends I had. Even to this day, we were distant. I kept it that way. People were hard and so were apologies. Avoiding people and playing video games? Easy.

But now, the blonde girl was back. I swallowed, the _Froot Loops_ from this morning threatening to come up. I knew what I _should_ do. I _should_ apologize.

My eyes flicked to the front of the bus, through the cracks of the seat. Krista's head was leaning against the window. Her blonde hair reflected the sunlight, and I forced myself to look away.

I would apologize some day. Just not today.

* * *

"Oh _man_ did you see Krista Lenz?" Jean asked, whistling after posing the question to nobody in particular. "Damn! She got hot!"

Annie glanced over to me, almost expressionless save for the devious glint in her eye. "Ymir did, and she thinks so too."

"No way," I spat, pushing my brown hair back. "Annie's the one who thinks she's hot."

"Why would Annie find someone who looks just like her attractive?" Jean pointed out.

"I don't look just like her," Annie growled. "I don't have that kicked puppy look."

Jean chuckled. "So you think she's hot too?"

"She's too little to be hot," Annie answered in a clipped voice.

I bursted out laughing. "You two are like, the exact same shrimpy-ass height!"

Annie elbowed me in the ribs. "I am definitely taller than her."

I grunted, keeping my eyes straight ahead. I adjusted the textbook in my hand. Marco soon joined the conversation at Jean's side. He was a little _too_ close to Jean. I almost quirked an eyebrow up at the sight, but refrained. I had bigger problems on my hands. Like the fact that everyone in the 104th Cadets was in uniform _except_ me.

"How'd you get that cut on your face?" Marco inquired. His black hair was combed back neatly. Even this soft-ass was in uniform, dorky freckles and all. His cuteness made him punch-able. He leaned over to look me over again. "Cuts?" He corrected himself.

"I fell," I said, entering Mr. Ackerman's classroom. He was one of those teachers that wanted us to call him by first name. His name was Levi. But that shit was weird, and I called him by last name to piss him off. He was way shorter than me, which made the whole thing amusing.

Jean laughed, and I just about wanted to pop him a good one. "You? Fell on your face? Must have been quite the sight."

Annie allowed herself a smirk. "I saw the whole thing. She was too busy staring at Krista."

I shot a glare at Annie. "That's not true."

I took a seat at the back row. I put my textbook, if you could call it that, onto my desk. I put my feet up and leaned back on the seat, crossing my arms. The textbook was really just a long manual of Army basics. Jean sat next to me while Marco moved to the front. Annie sat way from the rest of us, which was to be expected. Eren, Armin, and Mikasa walked in together, and like the rest of the Cadets I had seen, they were in uniform. I glanced down to my white t-shirt and black skinny jeans. I felt out of place, and could feel the shame burning at the tips of my ears. I sent a silent thanks up to my mom for my brown skin, so nobody could see my blush. Connie and Sasha came in next, clad in uniform. Others came in after them, people I didn't even bother to talk to, much less acknowledge their existence. Some new faces joined our ranks, as well. Last but not least, Bertolt stood in the doorway, and was shoved into the classroom by Reiner. That kid was built like a tank. They took a seat next to each other, already goofing off.

Damn it, I really was the only one without the uniform! I took a closer look at the uniform for this year. It was redesigned, and barely even looked anything like last year's uniform. It looked fucking stupid. There was a white button up shirt, with the American flag sewed onto the left side, just above the heart area. Typical. For pants, there were black slacks with a belt to match. A jacket, with the Cadet insignia on the back was worn over the shirt. Combat boots were worn to complete the look. I was upset that they took away our camouflage uniforms. These uniforms looked...stupid. Not badass at all.

Mr. Ackerman walked into the classroom, and much to my dismay, Krista Lenz was following behind him. She didn't have a uniform, and I took a small comfort in that fact I wasn't alone. The only open seat was one in front of me. I cursed in my head as the shorty walked towards me. Her eyes were so _blue_. Like the sky, or the ocean. A blue that was warm, not icy like Annie's were. I held her gaze, trying to keep it as level as possible. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she decided against it, and took a seat in front of me.

Mr. Ackerman stepped up to the whiteboard and wrote _Orientation Day_ in the most awful handwriting ever. He capped the marker and set it down. He turned around and saluted at us. Seconds later, we all stood from our desks and saluted him back.

"We'll have to work on that shitty salute," Mr. Ackerman muttered. "You all can sit down. Those of you have been in the program since freshman year, this should be review and a refresher. For those who are new…" He trailed off, his beady bird eyes snapping towards Eren.

"Cadet Jaeger," Mr. Ackerman almost spat. "Take a seat and shut up."

I looked over to the other side of the room. Eren wasn't even talking, I'm fairly certain Connie was. Mr. Ackerman had it out for Eren, that's for sure. Eren's eyes brooded with teenage angst, and Mikasa looked just about ready to brawl with Mr. Ackerman. I contained a chuckle.

Mr. Ackerman cleared his throat, regaining his apathetic composure. "For those of you who are new, this, in addition to Open House, should give you a pretty good idea if you're cut for the program or not. I'll explain the basics, and rules we'll go out to Mr. Shadis and he'll test your physical capabilities. You lucky dogs have me as an advisor this year."

Eren muttered something under his breath and thrummed his fingers on the desk. "For now, we'll start with roll call. Stand up when called."

"Yes, sir," Everyone said. I remained silent.

I tuned out during roll call. Every year, the first day of school in the ROTC program consisted of rule run downs. Expectations. Regulations. Benefits of the program. Career opportunities. An explanation of what you're signing up for. After all, we were all signing up to fight an enemy we knew little about. One that had disappeared after bombing all of the major cities in the world, causing almost a hundred-thousand people to die in Europe alone. Casualties in the States were much lower, though nobody knows why. The FBI could dig up almost nothing on the people who bombed the cities worldwide. They could find traces of an organization far greater than any known terrorist group. The investigation concluded that the TITAN Syndicate communicated through an unknown medium, untraceable by the means we had. There were rumors floating around that those who survived the bombing were taken in by the Syndicate and eaten alive, whether by other humans or by some other creature, it was unknown. Those were just rumors, though. I mean...

"-Peterbridge!"

I scrambled to stand and saluted at Mr. Ackerman. "Present!"

"Where's your uniform, Cadet?"

"Sorry, Mr. Ackerman-"

"It is Levi. Do not address me as Mr. Ackerman again."

"Understood. Mr. Levi, Sorry," I repeated. "I was unable to attend open house."

Levi rolled his eyes. "Well, second period you and Krista over there can go get them."

I returned to my chair. Jean nudged me, and in response, I punched his elbow while Levi's back was turned. He yelped out in pain and I felt a little better. A little.

* * *

The bell rang and first period was over. I almost sighed with relief. Krista walked beside me in the walkways of the desks, quiet as a mouse. But, she was almost bouncing in her step. I guess things really don't change over time. She was still the happy-go-lucky kid I used to raise hell upon. I kept my expression neutral to discourage her from conversation. As soon as we made it out into the hallway and into the noise, she decided to speak to me.

"You're Ymir Peterbridge, right?" Krista asked.

I clenched my jaw. "If you had payed any attention to roll call you'd know."

Krista licked her lips, and I couldn't help but notice the hurt look in her eyes. "Huh, guess you haven't changed a bit."

"People don't change," I told her.

She looked up to me. The girl must have been not even five feet tall. I was bordering on six feet tall, so I towered over her. Like a beast over prey. Her blue eyes bore into mine. "Yes they do. They try to pretend they don't because they're scared of change."

I snorted. "Are you implying I'm afraid of change?"

Krista shrugged. "I didn't imply anything. Just pointed out the obvious."

I stopped in my tracks, and gripped her shoulder with my hand. I mustered up the strongest glare I could manage. "I'm not scared of anything."

This little runt...If it had been anybody else, they would have shit their pants. She decided that this was the best time to smile at me. It was genuine, too, which made me even more irritated.

"If you say so," She said unfazed, almost in a melodic voice. "Where's his office?"

"We're almost there," I muttered and retracted my hand. I took a right turn through our school's massive hallways. The regulars paid no attention to us. We weren't in uniform. We were safe from their arrogance.

"What brings you back?" I asked. "You disappeared off the face of the earth in seventh grade."

"Oh! I was just studying abroad in Japan," She explained with a disgustingly sweet smile. I could tell the explanation was a lie. Her eyes shifted away, and for once, she did not look at me.

"Here's Mike's office," I motioned towards the door. I gripped the handle and swung it open.

Mike Zacharius was hunched over his desk, typing frantically on the computer. "Writing some fanfiction, are we?" I snickered.

His back straightened and he rose from his chair. "Inappropriate, Peterbridge. I'm guessing you're here for uniforms. I'm guessing you ditched open house."

I couldn't help but grin at his accurate assessment. "I can't confirm or deny that statement."

"You're new, I'm assuming?" Mike shifted his torso so he could take a better look at Krista. "I haven't seen you around before."

"Yes, sir, I am," She responded.

"I see you've been paired up with the most thorny Cadet Maria has to offer."

"Oh, fuck off," I muttered under my breath.

Mike smiled at my irritation. "I apologize in advance. Ymir has always been prickly."

Krista turned to me. "Oh, I already knew Ymir from middle school. I know how she is."

That same guilt from earlier this morning sucker punched me again.

"I'm so sorry," Mike laughed. "Let's go get those uniforms, shall we?"

* * *

The track field had puddles of water all over it. All of the 104th Cadets were outside in the soccer or track fields. It was time for physical assessment, which really only consisted of running, push-ups, and sit-ups. We already finished with the push-up and sit-up portion, along with the sprinting section, which I sucked ass at. Weight lifting, and hand-to-hand combat, among other things, would come later on. Later on meaning tomorrow. Today was just a fun day. A field day.

The final event was the one mile run. I smirked. This was my shit. I couldn't sprint even if my sorry ass depended on it, but long distances I could do. I liked to thank my long legs for the blessing. Everybody had changed out of their normal uniforms, and into regulation gym clothes. The track shorts on the girls were short as fuck, much to my delight. Annie's butt looked pretty great. I did a quick look around. Actually everyone's butts looked...I bit the inside of my cheek and forced my eyes upward. Krista positioned herself right in front of me, a direct challenge to my willpower. My gaze drifted downwards and I was not disappointed in the least. A smirk played on my lips. _Nice ass, sweetheart._

Mr. Shadis put a red whistle up to his lips, and blew out once. The cadets lined up at the starting line. Eren and Jean were throwing elbows at the front of the line. _Idiots_. I moved myself to the outside, to avoid being caught in the crossfire of flying moronic limbs. Annie was to my left, and the edge of the track field was to my right. The whistle was blown twice. The cadets surged forward from the starting line.

"Remember, maggots, seven minutes and thirty seconds is the cut off!" Mr. Shadis shouted as we took off. "If unable to attain this time, you will be subject to harsh conditioning or dismissal from the program!"

Two packs were formed right from the start. Bertolt and I, with our long ass legs, were leading the first pack. Armin and Eren lagged behind in the second pack. Some drifted in between the two groups.

I finished the run in six minutes, forty five seconds. Only Bertolt beat me in the run, leading fifteen seconds in front of me. I was wheezing by the time I crossed the finish line, though. I spent too much time playing _Mass Effect_ and lifting weights this summer, and too little time running. My limbs were burning and I plopped myself down on the grass surrounding the track field. I ran my hands through the green grass, watching the rest of the cadets finish.

Eren had made a significant comeback, and finished around the middle. Armin finished last at seven minutes, twenty-nine seconds. Just barely making the cut off. His face was flushed, and his blond hair was sticking up in different directions. Mikasa, who had tied with Annie, handed Armin a bottle of water. Armin thanked the black-haired girl and gulped down the water with greed.

My throat was parched, but I didn't bring a water bottle to quench my thirst. My throat was dry like a fucking desert. I laid down on the ground, still panting. The cool grass made me feel a little better. Annie sat down next to me, and started to tear at the greenery. She nonchalantly sprinkled the grass on my face. I shot upwards, wiping the grass off of me. I could feel my eyes widen in shock. It wasn't Annie who had sat down next to me. I only _assumed_ it was Annie because of the glimpse of blonde hair I saw.

"The fuck?" I grumbled at Krista. "Are you obsessed with me or what?"

At my remark, Krista turned a bright red, stammering.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Stop messing with me, shrimp."

A few feet away, I could hear Jean losing it. His laughter filled my ears. Using the same grass Krista defiled me with and with some mud I dug from the ground, I flung it at his unsuspecting horse-face.

The ball of mud landed flat on Jean's face. Eren exploded into a crazy laugh. Krista started to giggle. I stood from the ground, glaring down at the blonde.

"You're impossible," I grunted, trying to ignore the heat rising to my cheeks. "Stay away from me."

Annie scoffed at me knowingly as I walked past her.

"Oh, shut up," I growled at her.


	3. Chapter 3: Annie

**Chapter 3: Annie**

 **Thursday, September 10th, 2015**

I slipped on the black pants that went with the uniform. My hands thumbed the buttons through the slits of my shirt. I buttoned the shirt all the up to my neck. The fabric clung to my skin. It was a little...too tight. I unbuttoned the last one, exhaling. I looked myself over in the mirror. My medium-length pale blonde hair fell to my shoulders. It looked strange when it was not up in a bun. I ran my fingers through my hair and, for once, I decided to leave it down. It looked a little flat, but I did not mind.

My cat, Zeke, mewled up at me from the ground. He weaved between my feet. I could feel my lips turn up in a smile, albeit a small one. He was a tuxedo cat, and a very handsome one at that. I bent at my knees to scratch the top of his head. He leaned into my hand, his fur spreading around my fingertips. He meowed again. He knew what the time was; it was breakfast time. When I stood, a glimpse of the American flag on my breast caught my eye. An unwanted pang of guilt hit me where the flag lay. I pushed the feeling, deep, deep, down. So deep it would never hope to resurface. I pulled my tan jacket on, hiding that flag.

I grabbed my near-empty backpack and put it on both of my shoulders. Its only contents were a change of clothes for volleyball tryouts: a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants as well as neon-green tennis shoes I bought for myself for my birthday last year. I walked out of my room, and into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Zeke's rear took up residence on my feet, instantly warming them. I spit into the sink and rinsed the residue down the drain. I brushed through my hair one last time. I looked like a stranger with my hair down. I had the same icy blue eyes, but they held a different expression. At least my nose was still the same. I hardly even recognized myself. What the hell had gotten into me?

In a last ditch effort to clear my mind, I splashed water up into my face. I almost gasped at the clarity the water brought me. I brought the towel from the counter up to my face and wiped it dry. I left the bathroom after, and entered the hallway leading to the living room.

I could smell my father before I saw him. I was surprised to see him home so soon. He reeked of alcohol, and a bitter smell I knew was vomit. My nose scrunched as I walked past him, passed out on the couch, empty bottle of _Jack Daniel's_ in his hand. Empty bottles of beer littered the ground. I loathed him so much in that moment. I wanted to smash the bottle over his head and tell him to go to work. To bring some money home. So that I would not have to...Have to...I shook my head, and walked into the kitchen. I managed to find some bread, and butter among my father's mess. Compared to the rest of my house, my room was immaculate; nothing like this pig's den my father made for himself. I popped the bread into the toaster, and reached for my cat's canned food.

After opening the can, I poured its wet contents into a bowl. The meat smelt almost as bad as my father. I tapped the can on the edge of the bowl and stood from the ground. My breakfast jumped up from the confines of the toaster. I pulled a plate from the cupboard. Its ceramic surface was cool to the touch. I grabbed the two pieces of toast from the toaster. From the drawer I took a butter knife, and spread the substance across the toast. I opened the fridge to find it mostly empty. I sighed at the sight, and pulled out a jar of jelly that was surely past its expiration date. I spread the substance on top of the toast, picked up the plate, and shuffled to the small table but not before stopping in front of the sink to fill my cup with water.

I munched on my breakfast in relative silence, save for the sound of Zeke eating his. I drank the water, and finished off the last piece of toast. I returned the dishes into the sink, which was almost overflowing. Not only would I have to do all the dishes, I would have to go grocery shopping too, with my own money. A wave of hatred, hot and toxic, rose in my throat. I swallowed it down. I wished that when my mother left my father, that she had taken me with. I would have been a different person…

I blinked out of my foolish fantasy and gathered my things for school. The sun had not even risen yet. The sky was tinted a light orange, signalling the coming of dawn. I left the house without even locking the door. I wished I was wearing my hoodie, so I could pull it up and find some comfort. Instead, I was greeted by cool air that penetrated my skin all the way to my bones. I shivered, and tapped my foot impatiently. The bus was exactly two minutes late.

As the bus came, the sun began to rise in the sky. I stepped into the bus, exhaling in relief. I found my usual seat in the middle of the bus. I unslung my backpack and put it next to me to discourage from anyone sitting next to me. I leaned my head against the window of the bus, looking out.

The bus went to pick up Connie, and a few streets down, Sasha. They sat next to each other in the back most part of the bus. I became suspicious at the action. I counted seven non-military students on the bus. Next, the bus picked up Eren and Mikasa. They lived in the same house ever since Mikasa's parents were murdered. I did not know the specific details of the incident, but that was what the rumor was. I was intrigued by Mikasa's past, but it was her own, and not to share unless she wanted to.

Eren's hair was not brushed in the least. His crazy brown hair stuck up in just about a million directions. His green eyes burned with an intensity that made even me uncomfortable. I avoided looking at him as he walked past me to sit a few seats in front of Connie and Sasha. Mikasa, on the other hand, was beautiful, simply put. Her jet-black hair must have been cut recently, as it only came down to her neck instead of the small of her back. Her dark colored eyes met mine. I tried to keep my face as blank as possible, only nodding vaguely in her direction. She did a double take on me, her eyes widening.

Her voice was quiet when she spoke. "Your hair is down."

I could not help but crack a smile, albeit a small one. "Yes. Decided there needed to be some variety."

She took a seat across the divide from mine. She adjusted her book bag she had slung over shoulder. Wrapped around her neck was a brilliant red scarf. She pulled the scarf up over her nose.

"Having your hair down suits you," Mikasa said, her voice muffled by the scarf.

I ignored the way my heart skipped a beat. "Thank you," I responded, managing to keep my voice level. I swallowed. "I like your scarf." I paused, deciding whether or not to ask where she bought it. I decided to take the dive. "Where did you get it?"

"Eren, actually. When we first met, I…" She trailed off. She pulled the scarf down to uncover her mouth. "When I first met him and his family, he wrapped this scarf around me, to let me know I was safe."

"That is really...nice," I said. "Thank you for sharing," I added, more quietly.

I swore Mikasa's eyes twinkle. "No problem."

A silence hung between the two of us. More non-military students filled the ranks of the bus. The next stop was Ymir's and now, I suppose, Krista's.

"Are you going to tryout for volleyball?" She asked.

"Yes. And you?"

"That's the plan."

"Are you afraid you won't make the team?" I asked.

She shook her head, laughing quietly. "No. The 104th squad is pretty much guaranteed a spot in any sport ever at Maria."

"True."

"You're not much of a talker, are you?"

My eyebrows shot up without my permission. "Says you," I said, with a small eye roll.

She laughed louder than before. This time, for sure, I knew her eyes twinkled. "Well, I look forward to playing volleyball with you."

"Likewise, Ackerman."

My mind reeled from the interaction. Yes, I definitely found Mikasa attractive. She was intelligent, strong, and as mentioned previously, beautiful. Before, she had no interest in talking to me more than friendly conversation. But now, she was sitting in the seat across from me. Why the sudden interest? I tried to keep my emotions in check, but I could not help but feel a pulse of excitement hit my heart. It had been a while since I dated anybody. Ymir was the last, and while we were not meant for each other, it was still a nice relationship... On second thought, Ymir was atrocious when it came to dating. I am not implying that I was this love guru to begin with. She made me seem like it, though.

I looked out the window as the bus rolled to a stop. Ymir and Krista waited on the curb. The brunette was standing as far away as possible from the blonde, who was sneaking glances at her. Ymir's heavy steps clunked onto the bus. She speeded down the walkway to sit in the single back seat at the end of the bus. On her face were bandages, covering up the scrapes from yesterday's mishap. The poor fool was going to be love struck by the time Halloween rolled around.

* * *

"I don't know how many times I've told Connie that I'm not related to Levi!" Mikasa hissed as she put on a tank top. My eyes traced the contours of her abdomen, her sharp muscles, the v-line that disappeared into her spandex shorts. I put on a pair myself, hating how short they were. It was part of the volleyball uniform, though I suspected it was just a reason for the boys to come support us at games.

I snorted in response. "Connie isn't exactly the brightest bulb. I would argue he is rather...dim."

"You can say that again," She laughed. Her eyes flicked downward. I could almost feel the way her eyes drank up my bare legs. I felt some pride; the way she was looking at me was tantalizing. Mikasa cleared her throat, her gaze returning to my face. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," I said, and took the lead out of the locker room and into the gym.

"How do you feel about Krista?" Mikasa asked me.

I shrugged, making my way towards the bin of volleyballs. "No opinion."

Mikasa took a ball, twirling it in her hands. "I used to know her."

"Oh?" I rolled my shoulders, trying to loosen the tension in them.

"Yes."

I found myself interested in the story. I quirked an eyebrow up. "Are you going to elaborate?"

"Not now," Mikasa responded, glancing somewhere behind me. Her voice lowered. "She's coming."

I looked over my shoulder. Lo and behold, Krista was bounding towards us in uniform. She wiggled with excitement upon looking at Mikasa. She rushed to the black-haired girl and embraced her fiercely.

"Mikasa, I'm so glad to see you!" Krista beamed, her face was smiling but her eyes were not. "I know we have the same home room, but because they divide the cadets in half, I never get to see you."

Mikasa offered the short, well, shorter, blonde a smile. "It's good to see you too, Krista. We haven't been able to talk much since school started."

"Yeah! Which is why I'm happy to be playing volleyball with you and…" She trailed off. "I forgot your name, I'm sorry."

I lifted my chin. "Annie Leonhardt."

"Right! Of course. Do you know if there'll be any more cadets coming?"

Mikasa shrugged and motioned to me. "Do you know?"

"Volleyball tends to be dominated by non-cadets. Most of the girls wait for basketball," I replied. "I'm sure Mina and Hitch will show up."

Krista's face seemed to droop, as if my answer was not the one she wanted to hear. Internally, I chuckled. Ymir was not one to play volleyball. Before I could make a passive-aggressive comment, a whistle sounded out, and all the girls gathered huddled around the woman who blew it. Petra was just about my height, with orange-red hair and amber eyes. She was stunningly beautiful, and if I had to hear Jean make one more comment under his breath about how _hot_ she was and something about a _desk_ , I was going to kick his shin so hard it splintered.

Petra's eyes lit up as she saw how many students came to try out. "Hey ladies! You might know me from seeing me in the office. I am Petra Ral, the nurse for the 104th Cadets, and now, as you probably could guess, I am the head coach for volleyball."

The group of girls murmured their recognition. As I predicted, Mina and Hitch joined our ranks.

"So!" Petra clapped her hands together suddenly, causing a few of the girls near her to jump in surprise. "Let's get started, shall we?"

She split us into groups, and sent half of us to the other side of the court. We were going to work on simple drills to show basic aptitude for the sport. This drill in particular involved passing the ball back and forth over the net until one missed, or until Petra was satisfied with the performance.

I was part of the lucky few, along with Mikasa as my partner, to keep the ball up until Petra blew the whistle. After everyone had went, we worked on setting, serving, and spiking. Some were better than others. As usual, the cadets excelled in physical activities. Krista, much to my surprise, had the most powerful serve I had ever seen. She was a powerhouse without even knowing it. I was impressed, begrudgingly.

By the time tryouts ended, I was coated in a light sweat. Mikasa, on the other hand, was sweating bullets. Krista did not seem to have broken a sweat at all, and her eyes were steely with determination. This flash, this difference from how she normally seemed, startled me. The three of us walked back to the locker rooms together. Krista changed in a stall, which I found strange, not that I cared much anyway.

Mikasa dropped her clothes right in front of me, and I turned my back so I would not have to look. I did not want to be caught flustered out in the open again. I changed into sweatpants and my favorite white hoodie. The softness of the fabric and the smell relaxed me. When I turned around, Mikasa had her phone in hand.

"Do you have a phone?" She asked.

I allowed myself a smile. "Yes."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews and favorites! I appreciate it immensely. It was really fun to write in Annie's perspective. She is one of my favorite characters in SNK/AOT. Also, a note: I am writing Krista as she appears in the canon. Those of you that have read the manga know that Krista truly isn't the happy-go-skippy girl she's presented as in most fanfictions. I am going to stay true to her character, as she is very complex and interesting. Thanks again, have an awesome (and hopefully not Titan filled), day! ~Chemistry God**


	4. Chapter 4: Krista

**Chapter 4: Krista**

 **Saturday, September 12th, 2015**

I didn't want to go to school after this weekend. I really, really, didn't. I hated Maria High School with a burning passion. The only thing that was keeping me going was the fact that people viewed me so highly. Was it too much to ask to just stay at home and watch _Archer_? I hurried up the stairs leading out of the basement, fearing the darkness and what it held. It was noon, and I was just starting to wake up. The smell of eggs filled my nose as I opened the door to the main floor. The sound of sizzling sausage followed she smell. My heart managed to lift a little. Frieda must be home from work.

I peered out from the wall. She was stirring eggs in a frying pan with a wooden spoon. She turned the heat to the stove top off, giving the frying pan a little shake. She lifted it, only to set it down on a different burner that was turned off. From the cupboard she reached for two plates, and two cups.

My sister was beautiful. The kind of beautiful I could never hope to attain. Her long black hair was dark as night, and just as mysterious. Said black hair was done up in a french braid. Her blue eyes were warm, inviting. The were not like my own; dead, hollow. As if aware of my presence, Frieda turned to look at me. There were black circles around her eyes. It must have been a long shift at the hospital. She was a nurse working in the Emergency Rooms. Usually, she had the night shifts, the short end of the stick.

Despite being tired, my older sister smiled at me. "Good afternoon. Surprised you're up so early."

"Me too," I responded, rubbing my eye.

"What time did you go to bed last night?"

I decided against lying. There was no point. She always knew when I lied. "Four."

My sister raised a disapproving eyebrow, setting the plates on the table, putting a scoop of eggs on each of them. She rolled the sausages onto the plates as well, giving three to the both of us. "What were you even doing up so late?"

"I was watching _Archer_ ," I admitted with a sly smile.

"Not sure how I feel about my little sister watching a show like that," Frieda muttered.

"I'm not that little any more," I countered. "Well, age wise."

"I was just about to tell you that you're still short as a stump," Frieda chuckled and began to eat her eggs. I kicked her shin underneath the table. We both laughed, then...we became quiet. A bad kind of quiet. Her face grew serious, the banter gone from her face without a trace. "How are the bruises?"

The eggs, the same ones that had tasted just fine a mere second ago, felt like sand in my mouth. I almost choked on them. "Almost all the way better."

"After we're done eating break- I mean lunch, can I take a look? I know…" She trailed off. I knew very well her throat was tightening at that very moment. It was tightening from anger, from pain, from sadness, from grief that stemmed in her heart because she could not save me from my mother's angry fists, an aluminum baseball bat, and a broken bottle of wine. Worst of all, she could not save me from my mother's words. _I wish you had never been born! My life would be easier if you were dead! Your damn father…_

Frieda regained her composure, pushing away tears she knew wouldn't fix a damn thing. "I know the doctor took good care of you, I just want to check up on your ribs especially."

"That sounds fine," I responded as I shoved more eggs into my mouth. They returned to their original flavor. Eggs were my favorite. My sister knew that.

I busted my spot once I was finished eating my sausages. My sister led me into the living room, where the shades were still closed from the night before. I lifted my night shirt, that came down to my knees, over my head. A coldness spread over my body, and I couldn't help but shiver. Frieda squatted to gain a better point of view. I allowed myself to glance down at my battered and bruised torso. It had been nearly a month and a half, but my 'mother' (who, I found out, wasn't even my actual mother) gave me a beating that left me mostly dead. Inside and out.

 _Her fists collided with the side of my face. I went dizzy from the frenzy of her blows. Something inside of me snapped, and I fought back. I struggled against my mother's will. I kicked at her knee, which only infuriated her even more. I kept trying to push her away, only trying to survive. She was trying to kill, and threw me to the ground. She disappeared behind the counter of my old house. I scrambled to the door, but she returned with an aluminum baseball bat. She swung. The sound of cracking ribs, that did not belong to me, filled my ears. I could see myself from outside of my body. Another crack. Another. Another. A girl moaned out in pain, sobbing. Throat sore from screaming. Seconds passed, and the bat clattered to the ground. People in the house. Uniforms. Flashing lights. I returned to my body, only to find it broken and battered. People picking me up. Putting me on a stretcher. Sirens wailing. Pain._

I shuddered out of the memory. "Healing looks pretty good, considering…" Frieda cleared her throat. "Considering the magnitude of the abuse. Does it hurt?"

"Yes," I curtly said. "Only when you touch it, though."

She retracted her hand the moment the words came out of my mouth. "Any internal pain?"

"No, sometimes my ribs hurt, though," I responded.

"Seven broken ribs is nothing to shrug off," My sister said as I slipped my night shirt back on. "I'm glad you're feeling better though."

I smiled, this time, it was genuine. "Thank you, Frieda. I love you."

My sister embraced me, held me like I would break at any given moment. "I love you too. I-I'm sorry it took so long to win custody...I...I should have been there."

"It's fine," I shrugged it off, even though it really wasn't _fine_. My ribs throbbed with a dull ache. And my head, my head was fucked up.

Frieda sat on the couch, propping her feet up on the ottoman. She motioned for me to sit down next to her. I complied, and mirrored her position. She flicked on the television and scrolled through _Netflix_.

"Anything you want to watch?" She asked. I shook my head no. " _Grey's Anatomy_ it is, then."

She clicked on the icon, and the episode started to play. I half-watched the intro, and was already bored.

'How's school?"

"Okay, I guess."

My sister humphed, acknowledging she heard me. "Do you have a boyfriend yet?"

I almost broke out laughing. I didn't because my ribs couldn't handle that kind of strain without a pain that shot through my core, reminding me that I was going to be scarred for life. I snorted instead. "Funny joke."

"I'm being serious," Frieda responded as she turned to look at me with her not intentionally intense gaze.

I became uneasy. "Actually, about that…" Now, this time, it was my throat that was the one constricting. "I probably won't ever have a boyfriend."

"And why-," She blinked once, twice, and then her eyes widened in realization. She paused the episode. "Wait a second! You are so totally not into boys!"

A smile cracked on my face. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"I mean, I didn't want to assume you were gay...You never really had an interest in boys, did you?"

I shook my head. "Not in the least."

"So," Frieda smiled. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No," I responded.

"Do you think anybody is cute?"

"...No. Not in the least."

My sister sprung forward. "Oh. My. Gosh. Yes you do."

I looked my sister straight in the eye. "Ymir is the asshole who lives across the street. She's cute. I guess."

"Asshole, huh?" Frieda raised an eyebrow. "That's a strong word for knowing her so little time."

"I knew her in middle school," I told her. "And she used to treat me like shit."

My sister seemed utterly perplexed. "Then how come you think she's cute?"

"Just because she's an asshole doesn't make her any less cute. Besides. There's just something about her…" I blinked, lost in thought. I could still see the angry, bitter, person Ymir was in middle school in her today. But it was buried deep, deep, beneath the surface. I could relate to that. I could...understand.

"Well, I'll have to take a look myself and see I approve," Frieda chuckled.

* * *

Frieda went to sleep a few hours after we watched _Grey's Anatomy_ together. This left me to my own devices. I was alone, in a quiet, quiet, house. Alone with my thoughts, my memories. I ignored the instinct, the urge, to...to hurt myself. The silence was near maddening. I selfishly wished Frieda was still awake, just so I could have someone to talk to, to just be around. I knew I had to put myself up to something before my mind overpowered me. I grabbed my camera that my father had bought for me on my sixteenth birthday. The only reason why it was still in tact was because I hid it from _her_. I hung the device around my neck only to feel my stomach rumble.

Cadet training was kicking my sorry ass. Before, I had been weak. I vowed, after I almost lost my life, to never again to be the weakest link. Never. Again. In the void of my heart, I could start to feel some determination, some anger. It was better than feeling nothing at all. It wasn't much, we had only been training for four days. I could already start to feel the muscle building from my arms to my legs.

Mr. Shadis told us that the first week was just a 'warm up'; that the real work would start to begin. I couldn't say I was excited, but I didn't exactly care, either. As long as I grew stronger, I didn't care how much work was required it. I was _not_ going to continue to be the hopeless little girl I had been my entire life. This year was going to be different.

My stomach rumbled. With a sigh, I set my camera down on the counter. Besides, the sun wasn't going to set for another thirty minutes, if not more. There was plenty of time to climb to the roof and take pictures. My stomach demanded nourishment right now. I grabbed my cellphone, and dialed the nearest pizza place.

The delivery man came no less than ten minutes later. The pizza I ordered was a medium cheese pizza. If Frieda was out working, I would have bought a small. I bought a size up just in case she wanted to eat some when she woke up before she left for work. I thanked the pizza man. He looked at me expectantly for a tip. I shut the door almost in his face.

I sat down at the table that only had two chairs, as Frieda hardly ever had company over, and neither did I. I scarfed down half of the pizza within ten minutes. All the training, plus my body healing, made me ravenous. I decided to eat a fifth slice before heading outside.

Camera strap around my neck, I scrambled up the oak tree in my front yard. One of its branches passed over the roof of my house. Ever since seeing the house, I had wanted to do this. The September wind blew, rustling the colored leaves. I pulled myself up on a big branch, careful not to hit my camera on it. I scooted across the thick branch, and pushed myself off of it. I landed on the roof with a thud. I climbed to the highest point of the roof.

The sun was just beginning to set. The sky was beautiful, one of the most beautiful sunsets I had the luxury of witnessing. Red, purple, orange, yellow, all of those colors collided to create the picture I saw in front of me. I raised the camera to my eye, seizing up the sight before me. I took photo after photo. When I finished, I lowered the camera and lied down on my roof, gazing up at the sky.

I looked across to the house in front of mine. My breath got stuck in my throat. Ymir, dressed in nothing more than a pair of shorts and sports bra, was lying down on the top of her house, too, gazing up at the same sun I was. The same sunset. Seeing the same beauty that hasn't been tainted by hatred or pain. I picked up my camera once more. I zoomed in on Ymir as much as I could without making the shot blurry. I pressed the button, and took the picture.

I almost wanted to go back down into my house, so she wouldn't see me. Something stopped me from doing that. I resigned to looking at Ymir from afar. She was lying on top of blanket, that much I could tell. Even from across the street, I could almost see her muscles, her messy brown hair. I wasn't close enough to see those intense, golden, eyes that seemed to see through my facade. I felt a faint blush spread across my cheeks that later I would convince myself didn't even exist in the first place.

Ymir rose from the roof, practically a tower over the entire neighborhood. Her head turned, and I knew, deep in my stomach, she was looking at me.

I went back into my house after scrambling back down the tree, the warmth from my face spreading to the rest of my body.


	5. Chapter 5: Eren

_**A/N: Hey guys! Here's the fifth chapter. Please, please, please remember to review! The more reviews, the more likely people are going to read my story! Every review is appreciated immensely. Shout out to Genisous and Muddkipz for promoting my story on tumblr. Thanks a lot guys! Anddd, here I present Chapter Five of The Mercy File**_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Eren**

 **Wednesday, September 16th, 2015**

That morning I decided that if I had to see Mikasa sit by Annie Leonhardt one more time, I was going to fucking _lose_ it...And then, it happened again. Again. My best friend, besides Armin, chose to sat with the human equivalent of a statue. A boring, dull, statue, that was only mildly attractive, and that was putting it nicely. My heartbeat went up like a miniature hurricane in my body.

I didn't even try to ignore the hatred, the bitter jealousy, that was building in my stomach as I saw Mikasa take a seat next to _her_. I breathed heavily out my nose when I saw Mikasa sit in the same seat as Annie. I didn't give a fuck that I was being childish. Mikasa was _my_ friend, a sister, but not quite a sister. More like, best friend that got to sleep in my house every day, And a friend that I had known since I was seven after a freak decided to murder her parents. I was the one who had gone to her therapy sessions for _years_. I'd do it all again, trust me, but this, this kind of thing made me so mad. I hated the feeling of being replaced. It reminded me when Dad goes out for medical research in faraway places. I selfishly wanted her to myself. After all, I was the one who protected her, who would do it a million, fucking, trillion times over. And, in return she had protected me and Armin when I was eight from a bunch of bullies.

And, on top of all that, my gut told me that Mikasa was interested in more than just friendship with Annie, which made me _furious_. I didn't want to lose my best friend to some chick who barely even spoke. _It would be the same for Armin. It would be this same feeling. Right?_

I gritted my teeth, and clenched my jaw that already ached from last night. I had TMJ, which made my ears and jaw hurt like crazy. It was 'cause I clenched my jaw at night and grinded my teeth. My doc said it's from stress, and my dad agreed. I thought that was bullshit 'cause I didn't stress about anything. I'm just... pissed off all the time. About everything! Jean, the TITAN Syndicate, that prick Levi, and now, Annie...My mom said I needed to control my anger otherwise it would get me in trouble. But the thing is, anger was what kept humanity going. And if I wasn't going to be angry, who would be? People were, lazy, stinking cattle otherwise. That's why the TITAN Syndicate was winning. _Bastards…_

Connie tried to make conversation with me, even though I had headphones on. They were _Beats_ and I saved up all of my lawn mowing money to get them. They were black and red, and totally cool. I took them off and looked at Connie.

"Not in the mood, alright?" I muttered as I took my headphones off. "Sorry, it's only been five minutes into my day and it's fucking awful."

Sasha's head perked up from the back seat in front of me. She was eating a bag of something that I couldn't quite see, but could only hear the crinkling of the bag, which only irked me more. She ate...a lot, and other times she wouldn't eat at all. Sometimes I worried about her, when I actually paid attention. In the palm of her hand she offered me a small, chocolate chip, cookie. I accepted the offer with a smile, even though I knew it was tight and probably looked insincere.

"Thanks Sash," I said, putting the cookie into my mouth in a single bite.

"What's wrong dude?" Connie asked. He shifted in his seat, pressing his knees up to the back of the seat in front of him.

"Nothing I wanna talk about," I answered. "Something with my folks."

Connie whistled and shook his head. "I sure as hell know how that goes." He licked his lips and peered over the seat to Sasha. "Hey Sasha, come here I wanna show you something."

The brunette stood from her seat and quickly squished against Connie. A pang of jealousy hit my heart. I put my _Beats_ back on and cranked the volume of _I Don't Fuck With You_. I closed my eyes and tried to let the bouncing of the bus calm me. It didn't work. I hoped that I would at least be able to spar Annie during training today. Or, maybe even Jean. Just someone. I had to punch somebody before I spontaneously combusted. At least football tryouts were tomorrow. But I swore to God if Jean is the quarterback again I was going to break his goddamn legs.

* * *

The 104th Cadets were split into two groups during the school day. One half completed military training in the morning, the other, in the afternoon. We shared lunch together, which can sometimes be nice unless the regulars decide to stir up some trouble. I tore into my ham and cheese sandwich. Mikasa was sitting by me and Armin, thankfully. Annie was out in the library or some shit. Or maybe she was still in line to get lunch. Like hell if I knew.

Jean, Marco, Reiner and Bert were sitting next to us, too. Soon after Krista joined us along with Sasha and Connie. The whole entire friend group was sitting together. The feeling of camaraderie filled the air. There was the occasional laughter, the snorting of milk, and the loudest belch I have ever heard coming from Reiner. Annie swatted the back of his head as she took a seat at the end of the bench, near us, yet isolated from the majority of the group.

"The ocean is the most brilliant, awesome thing to ever grace this planet!" Armin beamed. He was taking a biology elective of some sorts, because he went on and on and _on_ about the ocean.

"Space is cooler," Marco replied, putting a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

Armin shook his head. "No way. We haven't explored ninety-five percent of the world's oceans! And we're living on this planet! Have you _seen_ the things coming from the deep ocean? Simply fascinating!"

I shoved the rest of the sandwich into my mouth. "Have to agree with Armin, here. Some of those fishies are fucking nightmarish."

"That's just because you're a pussy, Jaeger," Jean smirked. Marco gave him a gentle nudge to the ribs, reminding him not to be a total prick.

I licked my lips, removing the last of the crumbs from them. "Better keep your boyfriend on a leash, Marco."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"I'm not his boyfriend!"

They both said at the same time. The exact, same, fucking time. Reiner and Bertolt started to laugh like mad hyenas. Marco turned a deep scarlet red, and said nothing more, only paid close attention to his soup. Even Mikasa snickered.

"So, Mr. Shadis is kinda a prick, right guys?" Reiner prompted the group after settling down from laughing.

"He's no ray of sunshine, but he sure as hell isn't Levi, either, who is the literal spawn of Satan," I muttered.

Bertholt wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He had just finished up with the military drilling. I was glad I had the afternoon block, and not the morning. "I have to agree. Doesn't he get tired of yelling?"

"Have you even seen his face?" Connie interjected. "He looks like a withered skeleton. I can't believe he's still standing."

"He yelled at me for having a snack between breaks!" Sasha exclaimed. "What an asshole!"

"I heard last year you had to run for three hours straight because he caught you eating," Krista added on.

Jean started laughing again, rearing his ugly horse-face all around. "No, it was only two hours," Connie answered.

"Yeah, besides I-" Sasha began to say, but was interrupted.

There was a crash in the front of the cafeteria. Several plastic trays clattered to the floor, the food on them splattering everywhere. Two of the regulars were standing shoulder to shoulder in front of Ymir, whose tray also fell down. I grinned, and I knew my eyes were twinkling. This was going to be one hell of a show. Ymir knelt to the ground and picked up the tray, retrieving the spilt contents from the floor.

One of the guys, a guy with blonde hair, kicked the tray out of Ymir's hand. You could practically see the beast coming out of Ymir's body. Her eyes burned like fury. If I were her, and in her shoes, I would have already been throwing punches. But she had some degree of self-control. The lunch ladies didn't even bother to intervene. They looked on with mild disinterest.

She rose slowly from the ground, all eyes of the cafeteria on her. Everybody's breath was stuck in their throats. Krista, at my side, trembled. Sasha muttered something under her breath. Marco whispered to Jean, who only shook his head.

"Oh fuck," Reiner whispered, "Some punks are going to have their asses beat."

"We can see that, asshole," Annie grumbled, but her eyes twinkled with a devious glint.

"Oi, blondie, lay off," Reiner shot back, a playful smile on his face.

"Shut up!" Mikasa hissed, after her long silence throughout lunch. "It's about to go down."

The other guy, he had jet black hair, spat at Ymir. "Spic!" He snarled. "Why don't you go back to your own country?"

" _Madre de putas!_ " Ymir crossed her arms. "I _am_ from this country, you ignorant prick."

The blonde snorted. "Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say, and then they come in and fuckin' ruin _everything_. And, you're not even a girl, are ya? Just a tomboy dyke who wants to be a man."

Ymir rolled her eyes and attempted to brush past the two. They didn't budge. It was the point of no return. Still, silence pervaded the usually noisy lunchroom.

"Listen here, assholes," Ymir said, her voice low, so I could barely even hear her. "I am half Puerto Rican, and I am a citizen of the United States. And, in case you low-lifes don't pay attention in class, Puerto Rico is a fucking _territory!"_ She finished her sentence with a swing of her fist.

The other reacted and kneed her in the gut. She doubled over, the air being knocked right out of her lungs. She recovered quickly, and kicked out the blonde's knee, who immediately fell to the ground. She dodged a couple of punches from the idiot.

"Should we help her?" Reiner asked. He only looked a little concerned.

"Are you kidding?" Connie responded. "She's got this."

The rest of the group hummed their agreement as Ymir brought the black hair guy's face into her knee. There was a _pop_ sound, and his nose began to bleed right away. He fell to the ground, and there wasn't a damn thing that stopped his fall. He was out cold. His pal already recovered from the ground and he tackled Ymir to the floor. He brought his fist up and slammed it into her cheeks repeatedly. She snarled, and sounded more like an animal than a person.

"How about now?" Reiner hissed.

"I'm in if you're in," I responded.

We both stood from the bench and rushed over to help Ymir. Reiner sprinted ahead and pulled the guy off. Reiner was built like a Panzer tank. His arms linked through the other guy's elbows, and pulled them back tightly. The blonde asshole's chest was exposed, ripe for the taking. Ymir scrambled up from the ground, her entire body was trembling. Blood dripped from her nose and onto the floor. She wiped her nose and spat on the ground. Her lip was bleeding, and her mouth probably was too.

Ymir was staggering in her step. She took a shuddering breath in, and winded up her arm. She sucker punched the guy three times in the row, right in his stomach. She threw two more punches, her knuckles cracking against his ribs and abdomen. She slugged him this time with her left hand instead of her right, The asshole grunted out in pain, and started to cry. Reiner let him go, and shoved him forward. I tripped him, and gave him a kick on the floor for good measure. He gave a yelp and then he fell silent. A couple of the regulars in the cafeteria whistled. The cadets cheered, and I couldn't help but take a little pride in myself. I guessed that the two assholes we took down weren't all that popular, even with the regulars.

Ymir sat down sat down on the ground, trying to steady herself. She cupped her face in her hands, and let out a frustrated groan. When she pulled her hands away, they were stained red with blood. Krist appeared out of nowhere at my side and crouched next to Ymir, who had her eyes closed.

"Let me take you to the nurse's office," Krista murmured to Ymir. She grasped onto her forearm, tugging slightly.

Ymir retracted her arm quickly, almost flinching away from the other girl's touch. "I don't need _your_ help."

Krista left the cafeteria shortly after Ymir's words spat out of her mouth. She slowly rose to her feet. I moved to steady her but she shrugged my hand off. I respected her decision. She was a proud one, anyway. Even Reiner didn't move to help her.

The lunch monitors finally decided that they need to intervene. It was just _hilarious_ that they didn't think to stop the fight before it happened. Those two pricks provoked Ymir when she tried to walk away. But where were they? They had their heads up their ignorant asses, completely content with being how they were. It made me mad.

There were two of them, both women, walking towards the scene. Ymir was leaning up against the wall, pinching her nose and tilting her head back. Reiner and I stood in front of her, to protect her from any more goons.

"What happened here?" One asked.

I bit my tongue so I wouldn't curse their sorry asses out. I looked over to Reiner and nodded, prompting him to speak. He cleared his throat, and crossed his arms. His biceps practically bulged. He looked as threatening as a hurricane.

"These two," He jabbed a thumb towards the two guys on the floor. "Decided to pick a fight with her."

"I'm afraid we'll have to take you all to the office for this incident," The other said.

My blood _boiled_. "Are you fuc-, kidding me?" I hissed. "Everyone in the damn cafeteria saw what happened before the fight! How is it that you two didn't step in and change something?"

"This kind of disrespect will _not_ be tolerated."

"Disrespect?" My voice rose. "Disrespect? Disrespect is letting those two punks beat the shit out of my friend!"

"I didn't see anything to suggest that there was going to be confrontation."

My jaw throbbed. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath through my nose. "You have an entire room full of witnesses that would say that these guys kicked her tray out of her hand!"

"Then they can come forward after we take you five to the office," The other replied smoothly. It made me want to punch her lights out.

I took a couple steps forward, ready and willing to get in these lunch monitor's faces. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back, still fuming, to see Reiner give me a warning shake of the head. I bit my tongue.

Krista appeared moments later, with tissues and a ice pack in hand. She pushed past Reiner and I to give Ymir the supplies.

"Take them or leave it," Krista said, her little chest puffing out. "I know you're stubborn, but it wouldn't kill you to plug that bleeding nose of yours."

Ymir's mouth dropped, gaping wide opened. With shaky hands, she accepted the ice pack and tissues. Krista turned on her heels, and walked away, leaving Ymir staring at her. The guy I kicked in the ribs stood from the ground. He helped his friend up, shooting a glare at the three of us.

"Office, gentleman and lady. _Now_."

* * *

 _ **Madre De Putas- Mother of Whores!**_


	6. Chapter 6: Ymir

**Chapter 6: Ymir**

 **Monday, September 21st, 2015**

The sun beat down on my back, warming my perspirating skin. There was a slight breeze that balanced out the heat of the sun. I lifted my hands up to my face, and clenched them into fists. Annie did the same, lifting her hands slightly higher. She always fought with that weird posture of hers. But. whatever she did, it worked, and it worked well.

Today was the start of our sparring sessions. I excelled at hand-to-hand combat. I wasn't as good as Mikasa and Annie, but I gave them a run for their money. Brute strength was my forte; strategy, not so much. I was thankful that the little shrimp didn't have my afternoon session. On second thought...I would like to teach the punk a lesson or two.

"Remember, maggots, we are training, not aiming to hurt," Mr. Shadis growled, whistle half in his mouth. He wrapped his lips around the whistle and blew.

Sidestepping Annie's kick, I weaved around her legs to give her a one-two punch. I pulled the punches of course, that's what you were supposed to do. Annie's forearms blocked the brunt of the blows, and she kneed me in the stomach. It still hurt from when those two bastards tried to beat the tar out of me. I dropped, bending at my knees and took a swipe on her feet. The blondie came tumbling down. With a snarl, she jumped to her feet, I followed suit. And then, we were back to square one.

We were completely, utterly, an even match. Then, I took another blow to my stomach, and it was over from me. I fell forward, cradling my stomach, and trying desperately not to cry. I focused on my breathing and closed my eyes shut. My black eyes, because the bastard punched both of them, still hurt. But I wasn't exempt from any training. That's not how the 104th Cadets rolled. Commander Erwin said that if there was any more 'insurrections' that there would be 'consequences'. I knew for a fact he was saving face to coddle the lunch monitor bitches. He knew the fucking regulars started the fight. The regulars might outnumber us three to one, but we were better. There was only two-hundred and eighteen Cadets in the 11th grade, compared to the six-hundred and something that the regulars had. The juniors had the biggest 104th Cadet class, though. It was nice to be the biggest class, there was more perks that way.

I let out a sigh from the ground. It didn't matter anymore, that I got the shit beat out of me, at least, that's what I told myself. The shame from losing the fight was still gnawing at my guts. I hated losing a fight. And here I was, crumpled on the ground, almost whimpering, in front of the entire cadets. Annie crouched next to me, and brushed the hair out of my eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah. I fucking hurt still."

"Sorry."

"You're not sorry," I responded with a slight chuckle, propping myself up.

"Maybe sorry wasn't the right word," Annie admitted. She stuck her arm out. I accepted the gesture, and she pulled me up from the grass.

A pain shot right through my ribs. Once more, I squeezed my eyes shut. The other sparring sessions were coming to an end, punch by punch. Mikasa beat Sasha, Marco beat Connie. Eren beat Jean, but barely doing so. His nose was bleeding profusely, and Jean looked just about ready to murder the brown-haired ruffian. I couldn't complain much about Eren, or Reiner, for that matter. They helped me. I really hadn't expected any help from the cadets. But they had my back, and I really appreciated that. I just wanted the sparring session to be done. Running a fucking hundred miles sounded more appealing than getting my ass kicked.

Mr. Shadis blew the whistle again. "Alright, winners...well done. Losers," He clicked his tongue in disappointment. "You pigs are losers for a reason."

Jean bristled like a porcupine, but he remained silent. I had to bite my own tongue to prevent myself from saying something stupid.

"Losers," Mr. Shadis yelled, his voice booming throughout the soccer field. "Drop down and give me fifty."

"Yes sir!" The losers muttered, all fifty of us, except me. I wasn't going to stroke the bastard's ego. I was here to serve my country, not give the drill sergeant a power trip. _Fuck that._

Muttering under my breath, I knelt on the ground and put myself in a position to do push-ups. I pushed up and off the ground fifty times, like Mr. Shadis ordered. My arms were burning by the time we finished, and with the last push-up, I sat on the ground, chest heaving. Jean was beside me, and he slicked his greasy hair back. His undercut was growing out, and if he didn't cut it soon, his ass would get lectured to no end.

The sparring kept happening, and luckily Shadis didn't tell us to keep fighting. The winners kept advancing in this bracket he set up. Every single time someone lost, they had to do push-ups. The ranks of the losers grew, while the winners thinned down to four. It was almost the end of the period, and everybody was exhausted and wanting to take a shower. Before sparring we had done the climbing wall, and pull-ups, along with some sprints. Jumping jacks were packed between activities.

He ran us down like dogs. I dozed off, staring into the side of the building. I kept remembering that jackass punching me in the face. I shuddered, trying to stop thinking about it. My mind and thoughts wandered to a certain short blondie. We hadn't spoke since the fight. Besides, I didn't have the time to confront her about a certain incident on a past Saturday. _Why did the little punk come out and take picture of me? It makes no sense._ But, today, I was going to. And I sure as hell was going to get an answer out of her.

I came out of my daze when there was intense cheering. I stood up and looked to see what the commotion was. The final two, for both genders, were setting up to spar. It was Annie versus Mikasa, Reiner versus Bertolt. I should have been the one fighting Mikasa…

Still, everybody was excited. Mikasa and Annie, at least, before they had become friends, had a well known rivalry. Reiner and Bert were good friends, best friends, so it was bound to make the fight more interesting. Mr. Shadis seemed pretty pleased with himself.

Reiner and Bertolt started first. They shook hands before swinging at each other, both wearing a grin on their faces. When Mr. Shadis blew the whistle, Reiner charged forward, attempting to tackle Bert over, knowing very well if that he got Bert to the ground, he wouldn't stand a chance. Bert's heels dug into the ground, and both of them grinded to a halt. Bert wrapped his long arms around Reiner's waist, and linked them together. He threw his body backwards, taking him and Reiner to the ground. It was a total wrestling move, and it was cool to watch on T.V., but kinda brutal to watch in real life.

Reiner's back crashed into the ground. He groaned and sprang back up into his feet. He landed a punch on the side of Bert's face. Bloody spittle flew out of his mouth, and he returned the favor. Reiner took the hit well, but that didn't stop Bert from wrapping his arm around Reiner's neck. Before the tall kid could kick Reiner's knees out, the blonde teen returned the favor and flipped Bert over his shoulder. He twisted Bert's arm behind his back, and plopped down on top of his back. Bertolt tapped out.

Reiner released him immediately and helped Bert up to his feet. The two gave a hearty hug as the cadets gave a respectful applause.

But...I had a feeling this wasn't the fight we were all waiting for. The Mikasa and Annie fight was the one everybody was looking forward to. Hell, even I was a little excited! It was like the gold medal match for a world cup in MMA fighting.

I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye, someone walking in front of the side of the building, as is they were sneaking away. Part of me didn't want to leave to investigate, I wanted to see the fight. But...Curiosity grabbed me by the short and curlies. I looked around, trying to look as apathetic as possible and to not draw attention to myself. I took a couple of steps back and dislodged myself from the group.

My eyes narrowed as I slinked around the corner of the building and walked into the women's locker room after opening the door. Little miss Krista Lenz was in front of me, obviously sneaking around. When I cleared my throat, she jumped.

"You don't seem the type to skip out on class," I chuckled.

Krista whipped around, her blonde hair a flurry around her face. Her blue eyes blazed. It was...it was strange. It was like she was a different person for a brief moment.

"I-I'm not skipping out on class, " Krista stammered.

I could feel a smirk pulling on my face. "Then what are you doing?"

"I'm Petra's assistant," She responded, giving me the side eye. "I'm helping her. She needed me to grab something, and I found it."

"Helping her by sneaking around outside the school?" I countered, raising an eyebrow. "And your hand is empty, so unless she wanted nothing, you're lying."

"I…" Krista trailed off, blinking.

"You're an awful liar, you know that?" I lowered my voice. "And there's more than just this that isn't adding up."

Krista paled, as if a deep, dark, secret of hers was revealed. That kind of weirded me out, how she looked like her life was over. Her voice held firm, despite being white as a sheet.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She responded.

"You were taking pictures of me before," My eyes narrowed. Suspicion overwhelmed me. It was a bad habit of mine, to assume the worst of people.

"No I wasn't," Krista hissed.

I bursted out laughing, though it was more like a sneer than a genuine laugh. "You suck at this! "

The tips of Krista's ears were turning a bright red. "I don't have to sit through this interrogation. I'm leaving. I found what Petra wanted me to, anyways."

I shook my head, and moved to block the exit of the locker room. "Come on, _sweetheart._ I just want the truth. Why were you taking pictures of me? On top of my roof? How'd you even know I was on my roof?"

My legs moved forward on their own, and Krista retreated a step back for every one I took forward. I advanced until her back bumped into the lockers behind her. I stopped inches in front of her, towering over the shrimp, our hips brushed together. Her blue eyes looked up to in mine before closing shut, and taking a shuddering, trembling, breath in.

"You want me to tell the truth?" Krista asked, eyes still closed. She swallowed.

I snorted. "Yes. Always the truth, and nothing but the truth."

Krista took a peek out of her sealed eyes. When she saw that my expression and demeanor relaxed, she opened them fully. "I was going to go out on the roof anyways. I've wanted to do that since we moved into the house. You just happened to be out there."

I backed away, and her warmth dissipated off of my body. My spine shivered, and pinpricks of cold hit my stomach, my feet, my hands, and my neck. The cold was like needles into my skin. My soft grew soft. "I obviously do the same thing, almost every cloudless evening. The sunset is really something else."

"Yeah…"

"But why were you taking pictures of me? I saw you taking pictures of the sunset, but then you shifted and the camera was pointed at me."

"You are such an asshole," Krista muttered. "Isn't that obvious?"

I was dumbstruck. "What?"

"I think you're interesting, and maybe even a little cute, despite your awful personality," She said, her tongue a whip. I almost flinched. "I didn't know you needed to have things spelled out to you like a child."

I blinked, trying to come up with a response, and when I opened my eyes, she was gone. Before I knew it, my arm was twisted up and around my back. She kicked out my knee, not to hurt me, but to make me kneel. She released my arm, and walked in front of me, her face fuming. _That's three ass kickings in one week, Ymir! Pull yourself together! You're going soft..._

"If you _ever_ do that to me again, cornering me like that, I will _not_ take it. Even if the truth is owed to you," Krista declared. "I'm not the same girl that used to take your...your...torture!" She stomped away, grabbing a medical kit from Mr. Shadis' office.

My eyes widened, and guilt impaled my heart. "Wait…"

She whipped around, her blonde hair flying in just about twenty different directions. _She's...a living, breathing, storm. A beautiful, destructive, hurricane._ "I'm sorry." I muttered.

"What?" Krista called out mockingly. "I didn't quite hear you."

"I'm sorry," I repeated louder this time.

"You could have just...just asked me the truth like a normal person!" Krista said, changing the hand that held the medical kit. "Instead of...instead of…" She bit her lip, eyes watering.

I wasn't sure if it was safe to stand from the ground, but I rose anyway. "Look. I'm sorry. I won't get up in your space like that again."

"Thank you," She sighed. "I really should be getting back to Petra. And you should be in training, shouldn't you?"

I smirked, and she gave me a small smile in return. "Yeah, I guess. You just made me curious, that's all."

"Hmmm," Krista called as she left the locker room, leaving me alone. Her footsteps echoed out of the hallway.

Tears sprung up like leaky faucets. I hastily wiped them away. Why was I so bad at talking to her? Why did I keep making things worse when all I did was want to apologize for being a prick in middle school? My dad would say my people skills needed vast improvement and _fast_. I couldn't even argue with that at this point. I fucking _sucked_ at this sort of thing. I released a frustrated sigh and ran my fingers through my hair that was still a little sweaty.

I left the women's locker room trembling. When I disappeared back into the crowd of cadets, the fight between Mikasa and Annie was still going on. They were sweating, chests heaving, eyes blazing with determination. Mikasa's nose was bleeding, and Annie's brow was cut open and bleeding. I couldn't believe that Shadis hadn't called the fight off.

By the time the fight ended, Krista was still on my mind.


	7. Chapter 7: Eren

**A/N: This is hot off the press! Enjoy! ~Chemistry God**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Eren**

 **Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015**

My legs were aching from football tryouts. They were almost shaking from exertion. My calfs quivered, and my knees trembled. It was a good thing I was sitting down on the bleachers inside the gym, spreading my legs out. The coolness of the gym felt good against my near-scorching body. Tryouts had gone pretty damn good, I'd say. I was able to shake Reiner off before he could completely tackle me into the ground. When did a good 'ole one-eighty spin, it made him fall on his face. I like Reiner, he was a good friend, but I had to admit that it felt fucking awesome to dodge him like that. Thankfully, Jean wasn't on his A game today. He must have pulled something during training yesterday. We did sparring again, and he was paired with Reiner, who obliterated his ass.

My heart, much to my distaste, almost skipped in excitement at the thought of being quarterback. Leading the Maria Stallions, both the Cadets and the regulars, to victory against Rose and Sina High Schools was a dream of mine. They were only schools that challenged us, whether it be physically or academically. There were other high schools, too, but they didn't really pose much of a threat. They were small fry in a tank of ravenous sharks.

The only reason why I was at the opening volleyball game was because I was at school anyways. And, I guess, I was watching Mikasa play. Soon, others began to sit down on the bleachers. Armin waved at me, a popcorn and soda cradled in the crook of his elbow. He had a habit of falling up stairs like a total nerd, so he climbed the stairs of the bleachers carefully. He took a seat next to me, and offered me the popcorn. A shit eating grin on my face, I scooped a handful of popcorn and shoved it into my mouth.

"Sanks Urmin," I said with the popcorn still in my mouth. I swallowed as Armin started to erupt in laughter.

"You're disgusting," Armin chuckled, taking a handful of popcorn for himself. He chewed the food quietly.

I ruffled his hair, and in turn, he swatted my hand away. I nudged him in the shoulder, playfully. This kid was like a brother to me. I loved him to pieces. More and more people began to fill the stands, until the bleachers were completely packed. I was surprised so many showed up. I saw Jean and Marco a few rows down from us. My eyes scanned the room, searching for more of my classmates. To my surprise, Ymir was leaning up against the wall, with one foot propped up, a disinterested look on her face. Once again, I pushed against Armin's shoulder, jutting my chin towards Ymir. His blue eyes followed where I was pointing to, and he did not look surprised in the least.

"I didn't know Ymir liked volleyball," I said, glancing over to the practical giant.

"She doesn't," Armin replied in _that_ tone; the kind of tone that means he knows something more than I do. It made me feel stupid, but it didn't piss me off. Armin was just a natural-born genius. The kid noticed everything. "She hates it, in fact," He added.

"Then why's she here?" I asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Armin pointed out. He really didn't mean to come off as condescending. He was just smart.

My hand reached for another scoop of popcorn. "No."

"Well..." He drawled, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind his ear. "Krista's on the volleyball team. Ymir love hates Krista. So she felt compelled to come to the game, just because Krista is playing."

"Huh," I shrugged, scratching the top of my head. "That makes sense."

"And my explanation is supported by the fact that Ymir's eyes are glued to ah...Krista's…" He trailed off, blushing deeply.

I looked to see what he was talking about. Sure enough, Ymir was staring at Krista's ass. I snorted with amusement. "Can the game start already?" I grumbled. "I'm ready to go home."

The other team, from Sina High, finally decided to make an entrance in the gym. Our team was still warming up. Mikasa ran up to the net, leapt into the air, and spiked the volleyball to the ground on the other side of the net. A few of the girls on the Sina side looked to her in awe. I smirked and a little bit of smugness filled me. _Yeah, that's my best friend you're up against. Good luck, you fuckers are gonna need it!_

By the time the game started, the bleachers had been filled to the brim, and people were standing around the gym because there was no space for them to sit. I had never seen such a turnout for a simple volleyball game. The ref mounted the elevated ladder and sat up on a small platform, whistle in her mouth. As she assumed her spot at the top, the crowd grew silent, tense with excitement.

"Home team serves first after a coin toss," She declared.

I had to do a double take. Krista was the one that was serving. That tiny little thing, being able to serve to the other side of the net? It just didn't seem possible.

Krista bounced the ball once, twice, and caught it in her hand. She spun the ball in her hand, and threw it up into the air, slightly in front of where she stood. She ran to meet the ball, and sprang into the air. Her hand made contact with the ball, and she let out a fierce cry. A battle cry. The ball went soaring through the air, and landed on the corner of the court, just barely inside the line. The other team didn't even move to stop the ball. They must have thought it was going out of bounds. The ref called the ball inside, and that the point counted.

The Maria Stallions erupted into cheers, bubbling over like an overdue volcano. "Holy fuck!" I yelled. "I was not expecting expecting that!"

"Perfect form!" Armin cheered.

Several more points happened just like the first one, and then the other team thought to actually hit the ball back over the net. Then, the game truly started. The ball flew over the net, and Mikasa dug in deep, knees skidding across the ground, to stop the ball from hitting the ground. She bounced it up into the air. Annie tapped the ball with her finger tips, and Mikasa spiked it to the other side. The other girls on the team dove to stop the ball, but it was hopeless. Mikasa's spikes were dangerous.

Finally, Sina got a point back. Then, they started to serve. That was pretty much the only break they caught the entire game. Annie, Krista, and _especially_ Mikasa were amazing. Maria only lost points when they had to bench the trio, for some stupid High School League shit, or whatever. Armin said something about all the teammates needing to have court time, no matter how small.

Needless to say, Maria wiped the floor with Sina. I had to admit, I was impressed.

* * *

"Mikasa, you ready to go?" I asked, jangling the keys to the car at my side. I looked up.

Her face was still glistening with sweat, and she dabbed it away with a white towel. She was wearing only a tanktop, and because she was sweating so much...it clung tightly around her body. My throat bobbed up and down, and I tried to ignore the tugging in my pants. I looked to the side, twisting my legs away so she didn't have the chance to see.

She put her hair up into a bun. She nodded, affirming that she was ready to leave. Armin appeared at my side, and he put his elbow on my shoulder, and leaned on me.

"Do you think you could give Annie a ride home?" Mikasa asked. Said boring statue opened the door to the women's locker rooms and stepped out.

I took a sharp breath in. Armin could sense my discomfort, and in turn, he tensed along with me, unsure what I would say. I licked my lips, flicking my eyes towards Annie, who was standing _too_ close to Mikasa. The urge to tear her away from Mikasa threatened to overwhelm me. There was no doubt whatsoever, I was the jealous, possessive type.

"Sure," I said, a fake smile appearing on my face. "Where do you live?"

"I don't need a ride home," Annie replied, her blank gaze boring into me. She turned to Mikasa, her voice low. She muttered something into her ear, something I couldn't hear.

Mikasa responded with something along the lines of, "Oh come on…"

I shifted on my feet, waiting for their _little_ discussion to end. "It's no trouble, really, it isn't."

"I'm positive my father will come and pick me up," Annie said with a roll of her shoulders.

Mikasa gave her a look, as if she knew what Annie said wasn't true. "Are you sure?" I asked, one last time. At least nobody could accuse me of being uncivilized or some bullshit. Playing nice wasn't exactly my strong suit. I deserved a gold medal after this shit.

Annie didn't look me in the eye, and I hated that. "Yes."

"Alright…" I turned to Armin and Mikasa. "Let's go, then."

Mikasa gave a look to Annie, and then walked over the blonde girl. She embraced her, ever so briefly, and then jogged to catch up with Armin and I. Grunting, I pushed the doors to the school open, resisting the urge to roll my eyes to the fucking moon and back.

"You guys were great out there!" Armin beamed.

I hit the button to the keys, unlocking the doors to the car. "Yeah!" I agreed. "The way you just spike the ball...it's amazing."

Mikasa's cheeks turned a light pink color, and she ducked as she stepped into the car. I followed suit, taking a seat. I rested my hands on the wheel, waiting for Armin to walk into the car. When he shut the door when he came in, I started the engine. It sputtered a couple of times before roaring to life. My car was my baby. It was Dad's old car. Despite being a doctor, he never bought fancy cars, which always confused me. If you had money, why not spend it on nice cars? I loved my car, don't get me wrong. It was red, and a little run down, but it was mine.

A motorcycle, with two people on the back of it, pulled in front of us. I recognized the girl that was riding the motorcycle was Ymir. I wasn't quite sure who the second girl was, though my gut told me it was Krista.

"So…" I began to say as we left the parking lot. "Homecoming is coming up…"

"It is," Mikasa affirmed.

I cleared my throat, swallowed, and made a turn. "Are uh, are you guys going with anybody?"

"Annie asked me in private just a few days ago," Mikasa said. I could hear the smile in her voice, and it killed me on the inside. My insides turned to stone and mush, both of those polar opposites, at the same time.

"How about you Armin?" I asked, trying to bite back the tears.

"Mmm nobody," He said after a while.

"Want to go with me?" I offered.

"Heck yeah, I'd love to go with the star football player."

My heart lightened a little bit. I allowed myself a chuckle. "Not quite star football player yet."

"You guys are cute," Mikasa giggled. I looked over to Mikasa, a smile on my face, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

My foot slammed on the brakes as a deer darted across the road. The smell of burning rubber filled my nose. The deer, completely oblivious to the whole situation (like a fucking moron), bolted to the other side of the road. My chest was heaving, and I looked to Mikasa, and then to Armin.

"Are you two alright?" My eyes flicked around, searching for any more threats. I put my foot on the gas pedal and we started off again. I took a right hand turn into Armin's neighborhood, where he lived with his grandfather.

Both of his parents were in jail. Despite all of our time being friends, he had never said why they were in jail, so I never asked. I just knew it was for something real bad. On the bright side, his grandfather was one of the nicest men I had ever had the pleasure of meeting.

"Yeah, just a little shaken up," Armin spoke up.

"Nice going, Eren. If you didn't...we would have...have...have…" Mikasa hiccuped. One of her panic attacks was coming on, and I knew it. She took a shuddering breath in, two fingers flying to her throat to take her pulse. She was trembling, and tears were flowing down her face. I always felt helpless when she got them. I wanted to take all the pain that she felt, all of it stemming from her parents being murdered in front of her own eyes. I wanted to make her better, to cure her anxiety, her fear.

"Do you want me to pull over?" I asked softly.

Mikasa shook her head, rubbing her eyes.

"Alright," I said and kept driving. I pulled into Armin's driveway. The lights to his house were on, as his grandfather was expecting him.

"Thanks for the ride," Armin smiled. "Thanks for saving us, too, Eren."

I grinned at my best friend. "No problem. Have a good night dude."

"You too. And Mikasa?"

She looked up to him, waiting for him to continue.

"Do feel better. Remember to drink your tea, please," Armin murmured.

"I-I will...T-...Thank you."

The drive home was silent, save for Mikasa's occasional whimper. I knew she hated crying in front of people, of showing weakness, so I didn't press the issue. When we pulled into the driveway, her breathing had slowed.

"You ready to go in?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I put the car into park, and turned it off. Before I could reach the garage, a pair of arms wrapped around me. I turned around to hug Mikasa fully. Her arms wrapped around my neck, her body fully pressing into mine, her face in the crook of my neck. I was unsure what to do, so I just settled with wrapping my arms around her waist.

"Thank you," Mikasa's voice said, muffled by my shirt. "I love you, Eren."

My eyes widened. It had been months since Mikasa last said that to me. "Love you too. You feeling better?"

"Yes. I think I can go inside now."

"Okay." I said and pressed the digits to the lock of the garage in. The garage door groaned open, and we stepped inside.


	8. Chapter 8: Krista

**Chapter 8: Krista**

 **Friday, September 25th, 2015**

Thank God it was lunch time. Frieda hadn't been able to go out and buy some food from the grocery store, so all I had for breakfast was a lousy bowl of cereal, though I'm used to having at least two, plus toast or some Greek yogurt along with a glass of orange juice. There were none of those things in the fridge. At least she promised me that this weekend she would go on her monthly grocery shopping stock up. She went weekly to pick up things like milk, and juice, but since she was on a double shift last weekend, she didn't have the time, so I had to deal with the lame cereal with no accompaniment. I would have gone myself, but I only have my driver's permit. Frieda promised me that she would take me to the DMV soon to take the test, but it felt like it was going to be forever until she actually took me. My stomach rumbled, and it felt like my entire body was shaking. I was going to eat the entire lunchroom if that's what it took to satisfy my growling stomach. I sure hoped they had chicken nuggets for lunch, and if they didn't I was going to cut a bitch.

Ymir was leaning up against the wall, in line for lunch, slouching as always. Some of the non-cadets stepped in front of me, and I let them, not particularly wanting to stand next to Ymir. The smell of greasy cafeteria food began to fill my nose, making my mouth water. My stomach trembled like an earthquake again. I couldn't see the menu for today's lunch, because everybody was just about a mile taller than I am. With a sigh, I leaned out of the side of the line to peek at the menu. Groaning with defeat, I stepped back into line, not being able to read anything. Ymir looked down at me, and then her golden, or maybe… maybe amber...eyes flicked to the lunch menu. Her lips turned up into an infuriating smirk. She let the non-cadets go in front of her, but not before giving them a glare for good measure. I suppressed an eye roll, she always felt the need to show her superiority. It was a defense mechanism, but for what? I did not have a clue. She was always acting so superior, so dominant. I bet she was a bottom, a total sub...

"Chicken nuggets," Ymir said, not even looking at me, snapping me out of my internal rant.

She acted just like a brute sometimes. Why couldn't she just tell me in a complete sentence? "Chicken nuggets what?" I responded, trying to act as aloof as possible. It really made her mad when I acted clueless. All the more reason to do it. Though, I was a little excited about the chicken nuggets. Those things were straight out of heaven, if there even was a heaven.

"That's what's for lunch, shrimp," Ymir grunted, her eyes electrified with irritation.

I clicked my tongue, shaking my head slightly. "Shame. I don't care much for shrimp, especially for lunch."

"Are you impossible on purpose?" Ymir asked me, turning her entire body towards me, but not taking a step forward. _Good. She learned her lesson._

"Are you?" I countered.

"I pride myself in being a pain in the ass," Ymir was next in line for food, and she grabbed the dull yellow tray and slid it across the metal surface of the cafeteria counter.

"I can see that you do," I said, a little amused. "Sometimes, I can even feel it."

Ymir's eyes twinkled dangerously. Her bruises that were once sharp were beginning to fade into soft circles. I knew that look on her face all too well, braced myself for an inappropriate comment. "And I just _bet_ you like that pain," She smirked. "You seem like a freak in bed. It's always the innocent ones you gotta watch out for."

My heart skipped a beat, and heat was rising in my cheeks. I knew how to retain my composure, even though my body wasn't obeying. "What would you know about freaks in bed, Ymir? You're a virgin." I shot back, after all, it took two to tango.

Ymir's jaw dropped, and her tray almost did the same. The lunch lady plopped my beloved chicken nuggets on my tray. She was quiet when she checked out, but she paused, waiting for me to follow.

Ymir held her tray in one hand, and she placed the other on me. Her hands were impossibly warm against my cold shoulders. A shiver went down my spine. Dear _God_ her hands were like suns. My throat bobbed up and down and I met her gaze.

"That may be true, that I'm a virgin," She husked, swiping her tongue over teeth and lips. I couldn't help but notice there was a cut on her lower lip. It must have been just bleeding. Her eyes lowered to examine my body like a science experiment. Her golden gaze shifted up slightly, staring at my own lips. "But it doesn't have to be..." She was looking pointedly at my face now, but I couldn't, I just _couldn't_ look at her. She won, this time. Ymir broke the moment, and stepped with a wink.

A wave of heat, though it was not from Ymir's body, crashed into me. _Holy..._ I was...shaken from her response. I walked quickly to our lunch table, desperate for some feeling of normalcy, and not, not this… _I would totally let her, too._ I cleared my throat as I took a seat next to Mikasa, as far away from Ymir as possible.

"Hey, you," Mikasa smiled, and I immediately understood why Annie was so _into_ her. Her smile was dazzling and warm. "Nice job at practice this morning."

Mikasa always seemed to know what to say to me. "Thank you, you too Mikasa."

Annie sat down on the other side of Mikasa, Their shoulders brushed together, and they did not jump away at the contact. They seemed to embrace the light touch, and I grew jealous of their bond. Reiner and Bert were joking. Connie was looking around for someone, Sasha would be my guess. Eren and Armin were discussing something. Jean was just coming back from the bathroom, and Marco was taking a bite into an apple.

"Guys," Connie hissed.

The side conversations stopped, everybody's heads popped up with interest. Even Eren stopped talking, Annie's back straightened, and Ymir pretended to be interested in the conversation

"Well, what is it?" Reiner asked, putting a chicken nugget into his mouth.

"I think something is wrong with Sash," Connie murmured.

Armin rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "What are you thinking?"

"I...I wouldn't normally bring this stuff up, especially in a large group of people. But… we are all friends. And she trusts you guys. I'm really _really_ starting to worry about her," Connie's voice wavered.

Eren leaned into Armin's shoulder, nudging him, and whispered while wiggling his eyebrows up and down, "I know where this is going."

"No," Armin replied, his tone grave. "I really think you don't."

Reiner reached across the lunch table and gave a reassuring pat on Connie's shoulder. "Whatever it is, I'm sure the eleven of us can come up with a solution."

"Sasha has an eating disorder. I am sure of it," Connie choked out. "She...she eats a lot sometimes, and you guys know that, but lately, she hasn't been eating at all. Nothing besides small snacks. For the past few weeks. And I can see it in her eyes, that's something's wrong. I-I just don't know what to do about it. She's in the bathroom now, throwing up whatever… whatever she ate earlier. I…" Connie trailed off, blinking tears away.

My heart began to ache for Sasha. _Oh my God..._

Armin pursed his lips, obviously in deep thought. "I can see where you are coming from. I've noticed it, too. There is no questioning she hasn't been treating herself well. But where does the solution lie?"

Connie shook his head, and hastily wiped his face. "That's the thing. I have no clue."

"My mom helps young women with eating disorders," Jean put out. "I don't know if Sasha would accept the help."

"She better," Reiner muttered darkly. "If she falls out of the physical fitness requirements. Well, you all know what happens then…"

Bertholdt nodded in agreement. "It would be bad. I haven't been able to keep an eye on her ever since I transferred to the afternoon blocks."

"Her decommissioning should… should be avoided at all costs. I would talk to her, but… I am not known for my empathy," Mikasa sighed.

"I'm not exactly a teddy bear either," Ymir added. "If she needed tough love and a dose of honesty I would be there in a heartbeat."

Annie looked over to me, an eyebrow raised. "Krista."

"I-I…" My heart was hammering in my throat. It hurt, dear God it hurt. I swallowed my pain. This wasn't about me. It was about Sasha. "Yes?"

"I think you're the best to talk to her," Annie said bluntly.

"Over Connie?" I responded. "Over Marco?"

"She wouldn't listen to me," Connie sighed dejectedly, flicking at his uneaten chicken nuggets. "I'm her best friend but she would think I'm worrying to much. It fucking sucks ass. I'm not some older brother looking out for her! I lo-..." He blinked. His voice grew quiet. "I love her."

Thee lunch table was in a pained silence. Marco stood from where he was sitting to walk over to Connie. He wrapped his arms around the shorter teen. The embrace didn't last long, but it was clearly welcome on Connie's part. Marco was pretty well known for his comforting hugs and fierce protectiveness.

I tried to put on a brave face. "I can do it. Should I go now?"

"Yeah. Please?" Connie begged. "I'll owe you."

I shook my hand, dismissing what he said. "No, absolutely not. We're all friends, and we don't owe each other things."

"You're an angel, you know that?" Connie said.

"A total angel," Reiner agreed.

"Oh give it a rest," Ymir groaned. "Just go to the bathroom, and we'll see if you're still an angel, yeah?"

Annie shot her a glare from across the table. She looked just about ready to kick Ymir right in the shins. "A little decency wouldn't kill you right now, you know?"

"Shut the fuck up shortie," Ymir puffed, shoving _two_ chicken nuggets in her mouth at once.

"Well," Jean muttered. "If Krista's an angel…"

"Don't you finish that sentence, Kirstein," Ymir warned, putting her feet up on the lunch table.

Bert snickered and I stood up to leave the table. "Alright, wish me luck, guys."

I left without even asking the lunch monitor for permission, pocketing a small packet of cookies I had bought for myself, but was now going to give to Sasha in hopes to make her eat something. My uniform was starting to become too tight, too constricting. The collar of the uniform was almost choking me. _Stay calm, stay calm. It's okay. You're going to help her be better. So she isn't like you. Dead on the inside. Breathe. You're going to be fine. Stop worrying about yourself, bitch. This is about Sasha, not you. Ignore your discomfort. Do it for your friends._ The hallway bent in front of me, and my feet moved on their own to the path. My head was spinning like a top. What was I going to say to Sasha? Tell her to eat and get over it? I shook my head as I entered the bathroom to the sound of dry heaving. _Still? She's still emptying the contents after her stomach, even after all this time? Jesus it's worse than I thought…_

There were a few other girls in the bathroom, but they did their business and left right away, not wanting to be near the sound of a retching girl. I waited for them to leave, and some of them gave me strange looks, others looked down at me. For a split second, I wished I had Ymir's bravery. I wished I could tell them off for being pricks, but I couldn't bring myself to. When they finally left the fucking stall, I turned to the furthest one into the bathroom and knocked.

"Sasha?" My voice echoed in the now quiet bathroom.

There was a surprised cough, a scrambling of feet. The door to the stall unlocked and Sasha was standing there, wiping her mouth with her sleeves. Her eyes were red, and I was standing there like an idiot, completely stunned. I had never seen Sasha like this. She was always goofy, always smiling. Nobody took her seriously, she was so bouncy and light-hearted.

"H-Hey Krista," Sasha stammered. "Is lunch over?"

I shook my head, and pushed my bangs out of my eyes. "No, we still have ten minutes or so left. I wanted to talk to you."

"Did Connie send you?" Sasha muttered, looking utterly ashamed of herself.

"I came here out of my own free will. He did mention something, though."

Sasha let out a long, tired, sigh. "Really, I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me," I responded, looking into Sasha's brown gaze. "Are you starving yourself?"

"Heaven's no!" Sasha exclaimed.

"Why haven't you been eating?" I asked gently as I possibly could.

Sasha rubbed her arm, and shifted on her feet. "I've always had eating problems since I was a kid. My mom and dad have always sent me to healing centers when I've really needed it. But this time is different. I try to eat, I really do, but I'm just not hungry. And when I think I can stomach something, it just...comes right back up."

I pursed my lips and bit the inside of my cheek. "Any reason why, do you think? I have really bad anxiety, have you been feeling anxious lately?"

Sasha's throat bobbed up and down. "Y-yeah. My dad's Chinook, right? And my mom's just European. But...my initiation into the tribe is coming out. I'm going on a ceremonial hunting trip a week from now."

"And you're freaking out about it?"

"I…" Sasha sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm trying not to, I really am."

"But you are."

"Yeah," She admitted, her chest deflating like a popped balloon. "I have had issues with eating disorders, like I said, since I was little. So this...this fear of failure, I think, is triggering it."

I took a tentative step forward, offering my embrace like a gift. Sasha accepted the hug. She was really tall, only an inch or two shorter than Ymir. She was even taller than Connie.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, and pulled away from her. "Why didn't you tell Connie?"

"I-I just didn't want him to worry…"

"Sash. He's your best friend, he was bound to notice. He's worried sick, almost in tears."

Sasha began to tear up again. "I wanted to handle this on my own…"

"Listen here," I told her. "It's not wrong to accept help from others. You have an entire group of people that would love to help."

Sasha inhaled, her entire body shuddering. It was an all too familiar sight. My body did the same on the brink of a breakdown. "I know. I just don't want to be known as Potato Girl forever. I want to prove my worth as a Cadet…"

 _Potato Girl? That name sure as hell has a story behind it. Jeez, that must have happened freshman year. I don't know the story, but now's not the right time to ask for sure. I'm sure Annie would know, or even Mikasa. And if I had to resort to it, Ymir…_

"Everybody wants to do that," I assured her. "But we are the future leaders of the military. We have to rely on each other to be successful. We have to trust each other. Even...even with things we are embarrassed about."

"I suppose you're right. Thank you Krista."

"I brought you these," I reached into my coat pocket and offered her the small packet of cookies. "They're lemon, and will help calm your stomach hopefully."

Her hands tentatively enfolded the package. "Thank you, again."

"You're welcome. One more thing though."

"Yeah?" Her eyes were torn away from the package, and she looked at me.

"Please, please, Sasha, talk to Connie. He loves you a lot, even if he doesn't say it."

Sasha turned a deep scarlet red in a heartbeat. "You think so?"

"Oh Sasha," I hummed. "I know so."

"Wow…"

"Let's go back to lunch before we get in trouble," I suggested. In my other pocket there was a small notebook with a pen. It was there for whenever the inspiration for poetry hit me. But now, I was going to give sasha something a little more important. I grabbed the contents of my pocket and scrawled my phone number onto a corner I ripped from the notebook. I gave the scrap of paper to Sasha. "Text me about anything. Alright?"

"You're a goddess…" Sasha breathed. "I will, I promise."

 _I am not a goddess I am selfish. I am selfish. I am selfish._


	9. Chapter 9: Annie

**Chapter 9: Annie**

 **Friday, October 2nd, 2015**

The incessant sound of screaming teenagers filled my sorry ears. All around me, my colleagues were losing their minds like a bunch of primitive imbeciles. I would understand the excitement if the football team had actually scored a touchdown, or a field goal at the very least. But no, they insisted on descending into animalistic behavior before the game even started. The crowd erupted into even more cheers as the cheerleaders took to the field, clad in their short skirts that barely went below their buttocks. I bit my lip in excitement, now _this_ was something far more interesting than a mere football game. The uniforms were blue, gray, and silver, the school's colors. Krista barely made the tryouts for the cheerleading because of volleyball practice. But here she was, flipping off of a tower

I grew more irritated as the provocative whistling began to start. Jean, that piggish, horny, teenager, was whistling the loudest of them all. At the very least, I reminded myself, he sexualized men just like he did women. And though his catcalling was annoying, he was fair about it. The rest of the boys, because they were certainly not men, were beginning to grate on my nerves. _Why did I even come to this game in the first place?_

The very question I posed to myself was answered simply by glancing at the girl standing next to me, cheering. The glance was a stolen one, brief, but I saw all that I wanted to. Mikasa had her hair up in a ponytail. Her face was framed by black curls, ready for the dance that was to follow the football game, that is, if it ever ended. Gods above, she was _stunning._ I returned my attention to the players that were now just joining the field. Eren Jaeger achieved his goal of becoming the Maria Stallion's quarterback.

"Hoo-rah!" The crowd began to chant. "Hoo-rah!"

Maria started with the ball, and the crowd went silent save for excited murmurs. Jean hiked the ball to Eren, and the game began. A boy, with his small, lithe, body, weaved through the brutes of the opposing team. This boy was surely Connie. Nobody could run like he did or slip through the enemy's cracks like water.

Eren saw his chance, and took it. He threw the ball across the field, and Connie had to leap upwards to catch it. He landed but was going to be tackled. Reiner was recognizable anywhere, no matter what kind of gear he wore, no matter how far away you were from him. He plowed through those who tried to tackle Connie to the ground. Connie's legs were a blurred painting. It was all over when one of Sina's players bulldozed right into Connie. There was a knock of heads loud enough to be heard, even if slightly, up in the bleachers. I grimaced. _Now that must have hurt. Poor Connie does not have much brain power to spare in the first place._

When it was second down, instead of throwing the ball to Connie, Eren jumped over Reiner, who had tackled some fool to the ground. He sprinted ahead, dodged, bobbed, and weaved through the onslaught of tackles, and made a touchdown.

I hated him for it. I hated, I _loathed_ him for it. I hated the way he could make Mikasa smile, like how she was now. The pride on her face was obvious, it came off of her in brilliant, sun-like, waves. In all truthfulness, I had no right to be so possessive of her. We had only just become friends. But the way he so effortlessly made her love him, to laugh, to smile, irked me.

I hoped they lost the game, that they were utterly destroyed by Sina. I almost hoped Eren would break his legs. If he did that, though, Mikasa would feel the impulse to take care of him. I did not know what I was to wish upon him. Something invisible, maybe, like a wound in his pride would do.

My eyes drifted towards Mikasa again, how she was standing up and cheering. Usually in events like this, she would be more introverted. Eren brought out the best of her, he really did. I tore my eyes away from her and looked away towards the football field instead. The Maria Stallions were dog piling Eren as a display of affection that made me roll my eyes. Armin, who was standing next to me, muttered something under his breath. I could not help but smirk. So Armin agreed with me, that the boys were acting as though they were savages. When he looked over to me, I gave him a nod of approval with a small, barely there, smile. That sent him blushing and looking away from me. His reaction was amusing. He really did not know how cute he could be. His hair was getting awfully long, too. His hair was up in a messy bun. A man bun. He was one of the few that could pull off a _man bun_ I almost chuckled at the concept. He did say something about cutting it off, if I remembered correctly.

They started in the middle again, and the ball was hiked, as it was before. _This is so boring. I never thought I would be looking forward to a dance over a football game. What is happening to me?_

The other team took the ball, intercepted it before Maria could catch it. The runner sped down through the field, but was stopped by the brick wall that was Bert. He pummeled him right into the ground, and the slid across the slick field. When Bert stood up, Reiner slapped his butt as his way of saying 'good job'. Everyone around me started to chuckle, and I had to admit, I was too. I wondered when Bert and Reiner were going to start dating for real, and stop beating around the bush like a bunch of babies. They were childhood friends. The dream come true.

Sina ended up scoring in the next two plays. Afterwards, I grew even more disinterested in the entire game.

* * *

The music was unbearably loud, it was blaring through the speakers set up in various locations of the gym so one could not escape the sound. Of course, the music was of the generic pop variety. Hoardes, much like locusts, of teenagers were bumping into each other, mostly off beat, and 100% making fools out of themselves. This place was nowhere near my comfort zone. To be exact, it was a million light-years away from where I would rather be. _I cannot believe I asked Mikasa to this stupid dance. The things I do…_

I had found myself a nice corner to be in, away from the rest of the dance. The music was still pounding, though it was a lot more peaceful in this refuge of mine. The contents of the cup in my hand jiggled and bounced to the beat of the music. I took a sip out of the punch. To my surprise, it was not too sweet, and it was not spiked. It was just right; soothing, unlike this damn dance. _Where is Mikasa?_

She appeared out of literal nowhere, and she startled me. She seemed to be as uncomfortable as I was.

"This isn't really my scene," She admitted.

I huffed in response, taking another drink of my punch. "The parties I throw are a whole lot better than this...and a lot less…"

"Loud?"

"That's part of it," I answered, swirling the punch around. "People who come I know. This is just a room full of strangers that are dry-humping each other."

Mikasa started to laugh at that, her eyes twinkling. Her shoulders were trembling with amusement. My heart did a somersault at the sight.

"You're beautiful!" I gushed, the words tumbling out before I could restrain them. My eyes widened. _For the love of God, Annie. You know better! You should not even be here with you. There will come a time… This happiness is not long term, and you know it!_

Mikasa stopped laughing. Her eyebrows shot up, and her jaw went slack. She was shocked at my little outburst. I could not really tell, because of the dim lights, but I swore she was blushing ever so slightly. Her beautiful dark brown eyes fluttered shut, as if they were too heavy to hold up. At this point, my heart was hammering painfully against my ribcage. She held her position, eyes closed, expecting me to kiss her. Hesitation pervaded my mind like a cloud of ink spreading through water. Something else was there, too. Something that was pushing me to just _do it already!_

I leaned forward after taking a step closer to her, and tilted my chin up. Our bodies brushed together, sending bolts of electricity through me. I waited for her to make the next move. I was not going to be the one deciding to go down this path. If she wanted to do this she would, she had the opportunity to-

And just like that, her lips ghosted over mine, tantalizingly gentle and soft. My eyes squeezed shut and I pressed my lips against hers harder. She let out a surprised gasp, but did not pull away. She was so _warm_ , not warm like an inferno, that was uncontrolled and bound to burn everything in its path. That was Ymir, not Mikasa.

Our noses bumped together as our lips slid off of one another. She giggled ever so softly, her voice sounding like silk as she pressed her lips back unto mine. At this point, the electricity was coming off of my finger tips. I pulled away, my lips wet from the kiss.

"Was that alright?" She asked me.

I nodded my head, unable to form coherent words into a sentence.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes. Fine. Great. Actually," My voice stammered without my permission. I scolded myself for being so easily affected. A warrior was supposed to be stronger than this, simple carnal pleasure.

"Okay."

"Uh..."

"Do you want to dance?" Mikasa inquired, her tongue flicking over her lips. I had not noticed, but the music had slowed. It was romantic...almost.

"Yes."

She took me by the hand and led me to the fringes of the dance floor. She pulled me close, and it did not seem forceful or pushy. It was nice, it really was. I wrapped my arms around her sturdy shoulders, admiring the way they rippled with hidden strength. I laced my fingers together. Her arms linked around the small of my back. My hips brushed against hers, and another strike of lightning hit me. I wanted to melt into her. I _wanted_ her. I leaned my head against her collarbone, looking off to the side. We danced together slow, in a circle. The world was quiet. But that peace was soon interrupted with protests that sounded like they were a million light-years away. My eyes scanned the room, looking for the source. It was not Jean and Marco, they were dancing together, though they were not that close. Eren and Armin were dancing goofily. Sasha and Connie were perhaps the most awkward ensemble I had ever seen.

Reiner, Bert, Ymir and Krista were nowhere to be seen. I could hear them, though. Ymir and Reiner came into view. Ymir's heels were digging into the ground, fighting against whatever Reiner was trying to make her do. Krista was throwing almost a temper tantrum against Bert. There was nothing she could do, though, he was so much taller than her, even taller than Ymir. He was something like six-foot four inches, an entire foot taller than me.

"You can't make me do this!" Ymir hissed.

"I can, and I will," Reiner said with a final shove towards Krista. "Just dance with her, already!" He said in exasperation.

Mikasa chuckled, watching the scene unfold. They were being quite dramatic, which was not all that uncommon for Ymir.

"I will not stand for this gay bullshit," Ymir declared, Krista right in front of her.

"Hate to break it to you," Bert said, tapping his hand on Krista's head, looking at Ymir. "You are super gay."

Ymir bit the inside of her cheek. She offered herself to Krista, shyly looking away. Krista stepped into Ymir's embrace. She was completely enveloped by Ymir, and Krista buried her face into Ymir's chest, trying to hide her blushing face. Ymir stiffened, not expecting the intimacy in the least.

I turned my head, my lips brushing against Mikasa's warm skin. Her skin raised up in goosebumps. Ymir's complaining grew quiet, and everything felt right.

For once.


	10. Chapter 10: Krista

**A/N: Hey guys, I know this is a little late, but I hope y'all will forgive me ;3**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Krista**

 **Sunday, October 4th, 2015**

The moment the garage door shut and Freida left the house I felt alone. That feeling wasn't anything new, though, nor was it anything unexpected. The house was far too quiet, everything far too still. I resented my father a little bit, he was never around, though, I couldn't blame him, even if I wanted to. His duties were extensive and surpassed his duty to me as my father.

I pulled out my phone out but not before grabbing a bag of chips from the pantry. They were my favorite, just plain potato chips. Freida hated regular potato chips, but she bought them for me because she knew I liked them. She prefered barbeque chips, but that was beyond my comprehension. Barbeque chips tasted like dirty socks. I shoved a few of the chips into my mouth, the salt much needed. I plopped down on the couch and opened my phone, fingers swiping across its surface.

 _112 Notifications_ _from [Cadet Squad]_

I rolled my eyes. One-hundred and twelve was not nearly as much as it was after homecoming, as it neared close to one-thousand messages (thank God or whoever it is up there that we all have unlimited data), it was annoying nonetheless. Especially considering Reiner and Ymir shot back and forth texts along the lines of "titty," and "you bitch shit dog fucker you beat my high score," along with other general nonsense. I scrolled through the messages, breezing over them.

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 4:01 A.M.]: Titty_

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 4:01 A.M.]: Titty_

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 4:01 A.M.]: Titty_

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 4:01 A.M.]: Titty_

 _[Reiner "That Ass" Braun, 4:02 A.M.]: If you say titty one more goddamn time ymir i am going to come over to your house and burn it down_

 _[Reiner "That Ass" Braun, 4:02 A.M.]: Go the fuck to sleep_

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 4:05 A.M.]: Don't tell me what to do_

 _[Annie "Stone Cold Bitch" Leonhardt, 4:05 A.M.]: Who the hell came up with these nicknames?_

 _[Reiner "That Ass" Braun, 4:06 A.M.]: Ymir_

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 4:06 A.M.]: Reiner_

 _[Annie "Stone Cold Bitch" Leonhardt, 4:07 A.M.]: Someone better change mine_

 _Administrator Ymir Peterbridge has changed Annie Leonhardt's nickname to "Just Plain Bitch" at 4:09 A.M._

I scrolled through the rest of the late night gibberish. It was mostly just the three of them arguing, while Ymir interjected with awful jokes and references that made the other two groan in irritation. They must have been hyped up on caffeine like a bunch of savages. This entire chat was a big mistake. Why would anyone put twelve teenagers into a single chat room? Disaster was sure to follow. Especially when Ymir was the administrator. She was known to abuse her position of power. Like changing people's nicknames to "princess", for example. She was like a giant, meme, dictator.

 _[Krista "Princess" Lenz, 10:45 A.M.]: You guys are… interesting_

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 10:45 A.M.]: Ah, the princess decides to join the Meme Team._

I rolled my eyes into the back of my head. She was successfully getting underneath my skin. Ever since homecoming she has been completely and _utterly_ a pain in my ass.

 _[Krista "Princess" Lenz, 10:46 A.M.]: Oh, of course ;) I just couldn't be away from you_

 _[Connie "Master of Springs" Springer, 10:47 A.M.]: You guys are fucking insane. Do any of you know what training we are doing tomorrow?_

 _[Marco "Freckled Jesus" Bott, 10:48 A.M.]: I recall that Mr. Shadis said that this week would be a break week, if ever so slightly. He said we would be running to the ocean again_

 _[Connie "Master of Springs" Springer, 10:49 A.M.]: Thx_

 _[Marco "Freckled Jesus" Bott, 10:51 A.M.]: I would like to ask why my name is Freckled Jesus when Ymir also has freckles…_

 _[Jean "Horseface" Kirschtein, 10:51 A.M.]: have you seen ymir ever...shes the antichrist_

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 10:51 A.M.]: lel have u ever seen ur ugly face_

 _[Bertolt "Sweaty" Hoover, 10:51 A.M.]: Play nice children_

 _[Ymir "SwagLord" Peterbridge, 10:51 A.M.]: Who asked you, giant pole?_

 _[Reiner "That Ass" Braun, 10:52 A.M.]: says one giant pole to the other giant pole_

 _[Eren "Bombastic" Jaeger, 10:52 A.M.]: Does anybody wanna go get breakfast_

 _[Sasha "Not Potato Girl" Braus, 10:52 A.M.]: I'm down_

I looked to my half-eaten sack of potato chips. This seemed to be enough breakfast for me, but… I also wanted to leave the house, and the quiet that seems to grip my throat tight like a noose. My thumb slid across the slick screen of my phone, which was a little greasy because of the potato chips, switching from the messenger app to my texting app, and sent Frieda a message saying I was going to be out for the day. I sucked the remaining salt off of my thumb and went back to the messenger app.

 _[Krista "Princess" Lenz, 10:54 A.M.]: Count me in_

 _[Mikasa "Abs" Ackerman, 10:55 A.M.]: ...I suppose I will come out of my room for this_

 _[Armin "Coconut" Arlert, 10:57 A.M.]: I cannot go, my grandfather needs my help around the house_

The breakfast group ended up just being me, Eren, Mikasa, and Sasha. When Eren's ratty old red car pulled up to the driveway, I was a little excited. I had just scrounged up some spare change, a few dollars here and there, from around the house to pay for the meal. y stomach churned, though, because I really shouldn't have eaten those chips. Of course, Mikasa was in the front seat while Eren was making those damn heart-eyes at her. Sasha smiled at me as I opened the door on the passenger side. I propped up my head with my elbow and leaned against the car window, my gaze wandering to the house in front of mine, just across the street. Ymir's house. The garage opened, and even though I couldn't hear it, I imagined the sounds of how it buckled and moaned whenever it was used more than once a day. Ymir complained about it a lot, so much that I knew this useless fact about her house.

Her helmet was on as she rolled down the driveway in her motorcycle. The two vehicles intersected, and I could see Ymir's golden eyes through the visor of her helmet. She shot me a wink that made my insides curl up. She revved her engine and sped off, leaving us in the street. Eren gave a chuckle and made a comment about how nice Ymir's bike was. I had to admit, it _was_ a good looking bike, it was all black, with thin streaks of purple lightning on the sides. It was cheap work, I could tell, she probably did it herself. Figures she wouldn't take the time to actually paint on the designs right... It was one of those racing motorcycles that were small but dynamic. My sister called them crotch rockets, but that was vulgar and I didn't want to think about Ymir's crotch being thrown forward by a rocket or how it... I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts out of my stubborn brain.

We were driving to one of the local diners just on the outskirts of Olympia. The city was alright, but I preferred Seattle where there was more people and you could disappear in the crowds. The Washington sky was gloomy at best, tinted with grays and hues of blue. I could hear Eren's stomach rumble all the way from the driver's seat. I suppressed a snort and continued to look out the window, ignoring the conversation the other three were having.

"-Reiss," One of them said. My head perked up. That was my last name. My _real_ last name.

"What are we talking about?" I asked, feigning boredom. "Sorry," I added. "Was day dreaming."

"We're talking about how President Reiss is adding more funding for the ROTC program. That means we'll get a raise! Maybe two-hundred dollars extra a month. And you know, all those kids who are poor and depend on this program to support their family, they'll have extra spending money!" Eren said, with a brilliant smile.

He was really excited about this. Of course, I already knew this. I had known this was going to happen for a while, now. Not that my father kept a lot of tabs on me most of the time. It was better to maintain some distance, so nobody knew I was his illegitimate daughter of some whore he fucked in a filthy hotel room. It left me bitterly alone, not that he cared about that.

"Oh yeah!" I beamed. The expression on my face was a false one. Nobody knew the face that hid behind my mask.. "I heard about that. I can't say I'm complaining about that. First, no homework except studying for tests? And getting paid to go to school? This is a great program."

"Plus we get to kick TITAN ass," Eren added, his voice lowering to a hiss. "Those fuckers..."

His knuckles were starting to turn white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. Mikasa put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. The tension that always seemed to live in Eren's shoulders disappeared with her touch. I wanted someone's touch to erase pain like that, just with a simple stroke of fingertips. Warm fingers that would help melt the ice encased inside my ribcage. _She would hate you for lying to her. She wouldn't accept you as you are. If she knew how you really were…_

Sasha turned to me, and I almost groaned internally. I came for food, not because I wanted a conversation. I put up a smile. Wall. After wall. Fake. Fake. _Fake._

"How's cheerleading going?" She asked. She was interested about my life. Genuine. Real. Not like me.

The stitches that were sewn in my mouth, that were meant to silence me, were starting to tear. It hurt to smile this much, especially when it was so _forced_.

"Good, actually. Hitch sprained her ankle after jumping off of one of the guys, so I am the one that's going to be jumping off instead of being on the top of the pyramid," I explained, trying my best not to sound bored. "Are you excited for hockey to start?"

"It's not for another month, like when basketball starts, but yes, I am looking forward to it."

"Are you planning on doing hockey, Mikasa?" I asked.

"No, but the basketball team I am joining this year."

Eren seemed surprised, his hands looped around the steering wheel, making a turn. "Really?"

"Somebody has to put Ymir in her place," Mikasa deadpanned. "She's been MVP since the start of high school."

 _Of course Ymir plays basketball. She's a walking mountain._

"She's the top scorer in the district, and second in the state," Eren said with a click of his tongue. "What do you expect? She's a basketball legend."

"I wouldn't go that far," I laughed. "I haven't heard about any of this until now."

"Either way," Eren countered. "She's great at what she does. She can dunk. She's not as tall as some of the guys but damn, she can jump really high into the air."

"Sounds like somebody has a crush," Sasha cooed, stealing a glance over at me.

"I am not crushing on Ymir. A friend can see the talent of another without making it romantic…" He shrugged, shoulders slumping forward. "Besides, I don't want Krista to bite my head off."

Eren pulled into a spot in the parking lot. We all left the car, and he locked it. He kept pressing the lock key so the car would beep on repeat like an idiot. Mikasa swatted the back of his head before I could even react. He snickered as he twirled the keys around his fingers before stuffing them into his pocket. Sasha opened the doors to the diner, smiling as we walked into it. The diner was full of old people, church goers who still were finishing up their breakfast. The diner itself was retro, from the 50's, with the typical black and white checkered floors and red countertops. The aesthetic of the place was nice.

We sat up next to the bar, instead of a booth. I liked the stools better because they made me feel tall, or at least, put me on the same level as everyone else. The waitress looked like she smoked at least three packs a day, and her voice matched the leathery texture of her face.

"What would you youngsters like today?"

I took one glance at the menu. "A mile-high stack of pancakes, two eggs, two slices of bacon and a glass of orange juice."

"My, for such a little thing you sure want a lot," The waitress whistled.

"I'm part of the 104th Cadets, I have to eat otherwise I won't gain any muscle," I said politely even though I wanted to do nothing more than spit the woman out for being rude.

"Hungry _and_ feisty," She chuckled. "Are you all part of the Cadets?"

We all nodded. Eren grunted in affirmation.

"Tell you what," The waitress said, putting a hand on her hip. "Fifty-percent off your breakfast today. Thank you for putting your lives on the line, and giving up your young adulthood to serve."

Eren stood up from his stool, shaking his head. "No, ma'am, that won't be necessary. We can pay just like anybody else."

 _Shut up, Eren! I want to pay five bucks for breakfast be silent!_

"Nonsense," The waitress said. "Military discount bonus applies to all of you all. I mean, you ROTC cadets used to be in college. But now because of those damn TITANS… we need officers sooner and younger and better trained. Please, let me do my part."

Eren sat back down, reluctant at the very least, and nodded. "Thank you. And with that, I'll take the supreme omelette, and a cup of hot chocolate."

The waitress jotted down the order on her notepad. Her gaze turned to Mikasa and Sasha. "And you, my dears?"

"Waffles and eggs, please. Just water for a drink," Sasha smiled.

"I'll take the same as Eren," Mikasa added on, setting the menu down. "Except leave out the tomatoes, please."

* * *

When I got home from the diner at around noon and thanking Eren, I jumped onto the couch and closed my eyes. My stomach was full, content, and I was feeling warm, which was unusual. Breakfast was really good, delicious actually. The pancakes reminded me of my sister's, light and fluffy, yet satisfying at the same time. It was pleasant. I was tired, though. My eyes fluttered shut. I hadn't slept all that well the night before. My body craved sleep.

So I got it.

 _The room was starting to float around. It was quiet, as it always was. The ceiling above the couch seemed to be spinning, and it was discolored. When I sat up, though, I wasn't alone. I understood vaguely that I was asleep. Because there was no way Ymir was in my house out of her own free will._

 _Her legs were crossed, but not in the feminine sort of way. It was the way she always does, legs almost spread apart, taking up as much space as possible. Her golden gaze was upon me, searching me for something. She was devouring me with her gaze._

 _I looked back at her, nervous. She looked hungry. A wolf in disguise. Teeth ready to gnash across my skin. I wanted her to make me bleed. Pin me down. I swallowed. She must have sensed a change, because she stood, ten feet tall, looming over me. Her long arms pushed me down on the couch, gentle. Her warmth covered my entire body. She was pulsating with heat. Maybe it was my own. The tip of her nose brushed against mine, and I felt like i was on fire. Her breath tickled my jaw. Ymir's knee was pressed firmly in between my legs. She was hunched over, crooked, not quite natural. I didn't mind._

" _Kiss me."_

 _I wasn't sure if I was the one who said it, or if it was her. Either way, our lips slammed together, her lips picking and pulling apart mind, teeth bumping into my own, my tongue swiping across her lower lip. I couldn't help but buck my body forward. I wanted her to push down on me. I blinked. My clothes were off. So were hers. Her skin was so golden, too good to be real. I lifted a hand up to trace my fingers around her abdomen. They felt real. She felt real. She felt warm, not cold like how gold would be. Her lips trailed down to my hips. Lower. Lower._

I jolted awake before I could feel where her lips were going. My throat was dry, and I was sweating, trembling. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. I gave a shuddering sigh, and rubbed my hands across my face.

"Holy fuck," I whispered to myself, looking around for my phone to check the time.

4:52 P.M. the screen blinked to me. I laid back down on the couch, waiting for my heart rate to slow. It was impossible to deny, now. My subconscious revealed it all, leaving nothing to hide. My stomach did a flip, it knew all too well that Ymir was far out of my reach. She was impossible, a flirt with absolutely everyone. And rude as hell. But hot as fuck. And…

I clenched my jaw and wiped my eyes. There was a chance she would accept me for who I was. She was a survivor, just like me, I could see it in her eyes. The way her gaze shifts, looking for the quickest way out of a situation. That was the trait of a survivor, a person willing to go to the ends of the earth to survive. She could understand. She could love m-

No.

That was too much to ask.

* * *

 **A/N: Remember to review, follow, and favorite! Thank you, and enjoy your week! Until next time, ~Chemistry God**


	11. Chapter 11: Annie

**Chapter 11: Annie**

 **Monday, October 5th, 2015**

Professor Hanji was in one of those moods today, it seemed. I was not listening at all, but she was going off on a rant about biology and the mutation of human kind. The hands on the clock seemed to move through time as if it were molasses. This class was not my favorite, biology was nowhere near to my strong suit. Plus, like the rest of this damn curriculum in the school, it bored me. Ymir's feet were already up on the table, her head leaned back, mouth open and snoring without any trace of shame. It was amusing, to say in the least.

My stomach growled. There had been no food in the house. Again. Not that it was a surprise, I did not expect my lousy excuse of a father to actually support me. I would have to go after school to the gas station to pick up the essentials. My stomach felt like it was howling like a wolf stranded. It had been almost twenty-four hours since the last time I ate. I really did need to go to the grocery store. I could not survive one meal a day, a meal that was provided in school at lunch time.

Besides, I had the money to buy the supplies, thanks to the stipend we receive on a monthly basis. I just did not have the means of getting around by myself, because I did not even have a driver's permit. I would have to wait until I turned eighteen to drive around. Until then, I would call taxis or take the bus, or as a last resort, asking the other cadets for a ride.

The bell rang, and with it, came a sigh of relief. No longer would I have to listen to Hanji ramble about nonsense, at least, for the day. I grabbed my things and disappeared out of the room. Next up was World History with an emphasis on the military or something of that nature.

Mr. Bozado was picking his teeth, his teeth swiping over them. His expression was bored and arrogant, nothing out of the usual. He was more outspoken than Levi was, and more outwardly-confident in his abilities. He frequently boasted about his times in the infantry, fighting against the TITAN threat twenty years ago. He was sure that they were gone; defeated not by the United States but by themselves. He was sure there was too much fighting within the Syndicate for them to remain a threat. Mr. Bozado was wrong, of course. He did not know the Syndicate like I did. The fact made me smirk. Arrogant fools were going to be the downfall of everything Western Civilization holds dear. Commander Erwin seemed to understand. It was foolish for the Survey Corps to place him in a position where he was not directly in the battlefield.

I took a seat next to Armin, who was furiously scribbling some notes from a book he was studying on his own. The rest of the students were filing in.

"Alright class," Mr. Bozado puffed, spitting out his toothpick into the trashcan. His tongue swiped over his teeth _again._ It was an annoying habit of his, along with spittle flying out of his mouth whenever he started to talk for prolonged periods of time.

We gave our half-assed salutes, stood at attention, our backs snapping like twigs, and held the salute until he told us to stop. He always made us hold our salute longer, the longest was a minute and a half, a record uncontested by the rest of the teachers. It gave him a power trip, I think.

There was a rustling sound, and it was not coming from all of us Cadets sitting down. The wind was roaring outside, like an angry beast scratching and clawing on the windows and walls of the school. The leaves were autumn colors now, no longer were there any lingerings of green.

I clicked my pen and was ready to take notes. Mr. Bozado seemed as if he was ready to tell us something important. I clicked the pen again, and set it down as he took a deep breath in and dragged down the projector screen.

Usually he lectured using the whiteboard and read his notes out loud, he was old-fashioned like that but only because he was too impatient to learn the ins and outs of technology.

"As some of you might have guessed, I am assigning you a project. If you do not finish in class, it will become homework," Mr. Bozado said as he stepped up on a desk to turn on the projector. It hissed in response and angrily turned on, lights blinking. "And before you all start complaining, it is a partner project."

There was a silent groan that filled the classroom. It did not need to be heard out loud for everyone to know just how annoyed we were. We were not supposed to receive any sort of homework. That was part of the deal.

"Stop looking across the room for your partners. We will be drawing them."

Eren let out a frustrated sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. It was a dangerous prospect for him especially because both Jean _and_ I were in the class with him. His most favorite people in the world. I was hoping, though it was unlikely, that Mikasa and I would be paired up.

"But first, let me explain this project to you before we get to excited," Mr. Bozado chuckled.

He grabbed a laser pointer from his desk, and stepped back in front of the projector screen, his heavy boots making loud thumps on the floor.

"We will be learning about ancient battle techniques, or war strategies, of civilizations that have perished a long time ago," He said, clicking to the next slide. With the pointer, her circled around the vast amount of requirements for the project.

"You can chose any ancient civilization, up until 500 A.D., so that includes the Romans if that tickles your fancy. Additionally, you will study a hand-to-hand combat technique, and demonstrate in front of the class."

At the very least the project was interesting. He continued a bit about the specifics of the project, and I zoned out. All I cared about was that I was paired up with Mikasa. If Eren… I rolled my shoulders, and crossed my legs, trying to push the insistent jealousy out of my head. She kissed _me_ after all. There was no reason to feel like I needed to compete, but yet, here I was, my heart freezing over from jealousy.

"Mikasa Ackerman," He called her up. She pushed herself off of the desk, graceful and quiet, and lightly treaded to where Mr. Bozado stood. She put her hand in the hat, circling around with a delicate turn of her wrist. Her gaze met mine and she gave a soft smile. When she pulled up to read, there was a small trace of disappointment on her face. "Sasha Braus."

Sasha gave a small squeal of excitement. _At least it wasn't Eren._

"Armin Arlert," Mr. Bozado said, holding up a hat full of thin, white, strips of paper. He rustled the hat impatiently as Armin scrambled to his feet, saluted, then stuck his hand into the hat.

He lifted his hand, shaking off the papers that clung to his hands. He straightened the paper out, holding it out so he could read it. His deep blue eyes shifted to me, and I knew he had picked my name. "Annie Leonhardt."

At least I was paired up with the class genius. Eren ended up being paired with Jean, which almost made me start to laugh out loud. Almost.

* * *

I brought my backpack to the grocery store. I did not feel like taking a taxi, so I walked down the streets. My phone in my pocket buzzed. I smiled a little bit to myself as I pulled the phone out of my pocket and swiped across the screen. Mikasa just texted me. It was short, but it… it carried a lot of meaning. It made my heart feel like it was not entirely made out of ice.

 _[Mikasa Ackerman, 7:02 P.M.]: Stay safe walking to the store_

I chose not to respond to the message and stuffed the phone back into the pocket whence it came. I pulled my hoodie up, feeling safe in its surroundings. It smelt vaguely of my cat Zeke. I thumbed over my worn leather wallet, ensuring it was still there. With a sigh, I was relieved to find it had not moved. I just did not want to lose it. Otherwise, I would be going hungry until the next paycheck came. And that was two weeks from now. Before I enlisted in the program, that is how long I did not eat breakfast and dinner, only lunch.

The grocery store smelled like a different world, as if space and time did not exist the same way in it. People moved in and out of the store, unaware of each other, and each in their own individual existence. My hand hooked around a small shopping basket. This was the only container I would need.

I passed the pastry section, and avoided looking there. The temptation to buy two weeks worth of donuts and nothing else was very high. I stared at them a little longer before tearing myself away, walking to the essentials. I grabbed a couple of loaves a bread and put them into the basket.

I wandered around the store for a little bit after I found all that I wanted. It was calming to walk through the almost empty aisles. The only sound was a faint hum of the building. I could not stop thinking about those donuts in the pastry section. They looked so good, and they smelt even better.

Before I left, I opened the glass door that was in front of the donuts. I took a section of tissue paper and grabbed the donut. My stomach rumbled. I did not eat dinner. _I deserve this, I do._ There was no way I was paying for this donut. I took small, quick, bites out of the pastry until it was gone. It was so fatty, so delicious. I had not eaten anything junk food related in over two months. My mouth was watering. I wanted another one, but I did not want to risk being caught. I wiped off the remnants of the donut on my sleeve, hoping there was no frosting smeared across my face. My body seemed to relish the sweet taste. It was almost foreign…

I walked past a teenage girl on the way to the checkout line, and her scent hit my senses like a baseball bat. The smell took me back to homecoming. It was sweet, gentle, not too overpowering, and it was like walking through a meadow. Soft. Kind… It brought me back to when Mikasa kissed me. My toes curled in my boots at the memory. _Her lips are so soft… I hope to kiss her again…_

The mere thought made me flush. I took out the items from the basket and put them on the counter, not making eye-contact with the cashier. He scanned the items as they rolled along.

"Paper or plastic?"

The question caught me off guard. I blinked. "Plastic is fine."

He bagged my things, though they were few in number.

"Have a nice day," He said, in a bored tone. His name tag read 'Marlo'. I think I recognized him from school, but I was not sure.

"You too," I responded with equal excitement.

I slung my backpack off of my shoulder and put the plastic bags into it. They barely fit into the backpack. It was heavy when I put it back on my shoulders. The walk was over five miles long, so it was going to take a while. I sighed and mentally cursed my father.

My phone buzzed again.

 _[Ymr Peterbridge, 8:10 P.M.]: squirt, you need a ride?_

 _[Annie Leonhardt, 8:10 P.M.]: No. How did you even know I needed a ride?_

 _[Ymr Peterbridge, 8:11 P.M.]: Mikasa_

I wanted to be mad at Mikasa for telling Ymir I needed a ride. Or even worse... that I needed help. But then I realized… she was just worried about me. She cared. How many people could claim the same?

 _[Annie Leonhardt, 8:11 P.M.]: I am sure you have better things to do_

 _[Ymir Peterbridge, 8:12 P.M.]: I don't. So are you going to let me help you or not?_

 _[Annie Leonhardt, 8:12 P.M.]: …_

 _[Ymir Peterbridge, 8:12 P.M.]: Hmmm?_

 _[Annie Leonhardt, 8:12 P.M.]: Fine. I'm at the Safeway off of the highway_

 _[Ymir Peterbridge, 8:13 P.M.]: on my way_

When Ymir arrived to pick me up, she handed me her helmet. I muttered thanks, and she said not to mention it.

"Mikasa said that she would have picked you up if she had her own car," Ymir said, tying her hair back into a ponytail.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. So she asked me to do it. And here I am," She was smirking to herself. I wonder what Mikasa said she would do in return. It probably had something to do with food, knowing Ymir.

"What did she promise in return?"

"A pizza," Ymir chuckled.

I smiled. "Figures."

"Hold on tight squirt," Ymir whistled as she revved the engine of her motorcycle.


	12. Chapter 12: Eren

**Chapter 12: Eren**

 **Wednesday, October 13th, 2015**

"Armin."

"What is it Eren?" My best friend looked up from the book he reading. When was the kid not reading a book? The title was something in latin, something smart, something I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

I rubbed my hands together, and my jaw throbbed out of habit. My fingers thrummed against the desk, and I put my head in my other hand. The uniform felt warmer than it usually was, more constricting.

"Well… now that I think about it I don't think I have the words…" I sighed, running a hand through my hair. My foot, against my will, was starting to tap aggressively against the floor.

Armin raised an annoying eyebrow at me. "What's got you all twisted up? Must be pretty serious."

"Listen Aryan coconut…" I whispered to him, leaning in closer so our heads almost touched. It was an old childhood nickname of his. One that I gave him the day I met the little guy. His hair was done in a bowl cut, and it was all puffed up and blonde, which made him look like a coconut head.

"It's definitely serious if you're calling me that," He chuckled, he shut the cover his book, completely focusing on me. Studying me as if I were a specimen under a microscope.

How was I supposed to tell him this? The words were just swirling around in my head in a confusing storm. "Alright. So… I think I love Mikasa… I'm just feeling really confused right now."

He looked utterly unimpressed. It irked me, almost, how much he _didn't_ seem surprised. "Took you long enough to figure out."

I crossed my arms, heat flushing to my cheeks, unwanted. I hoped the damn redness didn't show, that would be… fucking awful. "You knew?"

"How could I not?" Armin responded gently. He punched my shoulder, just a light jab. "Besides, I'm your best friend. I was bound to notice."

"That may be true, that you're my best friend, but you're also a genius," I shrugged.

He started tapping his pencil against his chin, thoughtful. "Hmmm…" He trailed off. "No. It really didn't take a genius to figure out you love her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I almost yelled, embarrassed.

The librarian made a hissing sound that sounded more zombie than human. Armin motioned for me to be silent. I mouthed an apology and he waved it off, not caring. He leaned in, propping himself up with his elbows.

"What I'm saying is," He whispered. "Is that it's very obvious you love her. I can't believe it took you this long."

I pushed my hair back, feeling the panic starting to settle in. If this went on any longer, my jaw was going to fall off onto the ground like an _actual_ zombie. The look Armin was giving me was a mixture of pity and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on, despite being friends for over ten years. Was it understanding? Something different?

"Yeah," I muttered, a little uneasy. "What's there to say? She's…"

"You don't have to explain. I understand. Best friend, remember?"

I gave a slight chuckle, thankful I didn't have to explain already… complicated feelings to him. "The question is, what do I do about it?"

"That _is_ a good question," Armin admitted. His fingers traced the cover of the latin book, his lips pursed in thought. "There nothing to do besides wait, I suppose. Her and Annie…"

A flash of anger, white and hot, pierced through my heart. "I know. I know. I know." I shuddered. "I know…" I repeated. "I want to be the one to make her happy."

"You already do, Eren. Sometimes you just don't see it. You take care of her. She takes care of you."

"You think so?"

"I know so. I do not know if you will work out romantically, that I cannot guarantee. But if you wait, good things are sure to come."

"I don't want to wait when that living statue makes a move on her," I hissed through my teeth.

"Eren, you are letting your personal feelings cloud your judgement," Armin warned. "Annie is a good person. Callous, perhaps, but she is genuine."

My arms folded across my chest. "I guess," I grunted. "She thinks she's better than everyone else…"

"Besides," Armin went on. "You should be focusing on training."

"That's something I can agree on. All of this shit is making it hard for me to concentrate. And I already have a hard enough time…"

"Are you falling behind on your studies again?" Asked Armin.

I gave a weak laugh. "Not this time."

"Good. No use in throwing all your hard work away."

Armin blew a strand of hair out of his face and opened his book, clearly having nothing more to say about the subject. He seemed wise beyond his years. He _was_ wise beyond his years. People called him an old soul all the time, though I didn't think wisdom came from time. The kid had a lot of experience. He joined the program because I did, and because the Army offered him a special deal reserved for the intellectual elite. When we graduated from high school he was going to be a strategist that would advise the generals. He scored higher than any other cadet in strategy, so the job suited him like a well-fitted glove.

I looked back to my history book. I couldn't believe I was paired up with Horse-Face Shit-Lord. The only option worse than him was…

"How do you feel about being paired up with Annie?" I wondered out loud.

Armin didn't look up from his book. He flipped the page over, almost done with the entire book. He just started an hour ago after school ended, here in the library. I watched him start that damn book, and I couldn't believe he was almost finished.

"I don't mind her," He said, quieter than usual. His gaze wandered the text. He flipped the page again.

"Is she any good at history?"

"I think so. She's awfully smart. She just doesn't show it outwardly," Armin observed.

"Why do you think that is?" I asked. She seemed like _the_ type to gloat about any ability that was superior than the average person.

"She doesn't want to draw attention to herself," He responded as if it were plain and simple for all the world to see. He murmured something to himself about her hiding something painful, but I didn't want to talk about Annie any longer. My pulse was starting to suffer because of it. And I didn't want to raise my blood pressure before football practice. Having Jean on the team was bad enough.

"... Huh. Alright."

The overhead speaker blared overhead. The sound system was loud and old as bones.

" _Football practice has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience. Practice should resume normally tomorrow at the scheduled time._ "

The strangest look passed over Armin's face. His face turned white as a sheet, and he began to tremble. "Something is wrong. I have the strangest feeling…"

Another message rang out through the P.A. system. " _All 104th Cadet staff needs to report to Commander Erwin's office immediately_."

"What's going on?" I asked to nobody in particular. They never ordered the staff to the principal's office. It was concerning, to say in the least.

Armin's phone buzzed twice. So did mine. We both looked down to our phones, then scrambled to unlock them.

 _2 Notifications from [Cadet Squad]_

 _[Ymir "Meme" Peterbridge, 4:06 P.M.]: holy fuck guys check the fucking news_

 _[Ymir "Meme" Peterbridge, 4:06 P.M.]: shit is going down! It's bad...very...very bad._

Armin, with his shaking hands, unzipped his backpack to retrieve his gray laptop. He sat it on the table and opened it. He almost slammed the power button on, and the machine roared to life. He logged in, and then opened _Google Chrome_ , typing in 'News' in the search bar.

When he pressed enter, angry blue and red letters appeared on the screen. Headlines reading: 'Moscow Airports Attacked Brutally, Thousands Presumed Dead,' along with 'Istanbul's Tallest Skyscraper Collapse, Causes Unknown,' and 'Ukrainian City of Odessa Massacred,' blared across the screen.

The time stamps read all the same. The first reports all had come ten minutes before we looked. Three separate cities, all around the same location, just north or south of each other, at the same time? Dread gripped my heart with a stony claw. Armin clicked on one of the stories, and the source claimed that they didn't know what was the cause of the destruction. Armin and I looked at each other. We both knew exactly what it was. There was no need for evidence. It was clear, crystal clear. The TITAN threat had returned, worse than it ever had been before.

I paused to think for a second. The last attack happened twenty years ago in almost all of the major European cities and capitals. Was it almost all of them? Or just half? I couldn't quite remember the statistic. Armin sure would. I shook my head. None of that mattered now. They were back. A chill went down my spine.

I turned to Armin. "Want to come home with me? I'm sure President Reiss will have something to say about it. It's making me nervous, just sitting here and doing nothing!"

"Let's go," He said, his voice shaky.

* * *

My mom and dad were already in the living room watching T.V. when we opened the garage door and stepped into the house. Mom rushed over to me and embraced me fiercely.

"Oh Eren…" She said. Her throat sounded tight, as if she had been crying. "You know what this means…"

"I signed up for ROTC for a reason, ma. No need to get all sappy on me, I know what I'm going into," I said and gave her a quick hug, if only to appease her.

Mikasa was sitting in front of the T.V., legs crossed, a concerned look on her face. She was studying the screen, eyebrows knitted together. In her hand was a steaming cup of tea. Judging by the smell, it was her favorite tea from Japan that her birth mother used to always drink. That's what she told me, anyway.

Armin and I took a seat on the couch.

"You two are lucky, just in time for the presidential address," My dad told us. He had a haggard look in his eyes. He worked hard as a doctor, found a cure for some mutant strain of swine flu or some shit. He sat on the loveseat, and my mother soon joined him.

Mikasa left the floor to sit next to me. Not close, but just on the couch with me. She gave me a look, one that communicated that she wanted to talk to me later. I gave her a nod and watched the screen, which was just an image of an empty podium.

A man, middle aged and chubby with neat hair and glasses finally appeared on the screen. He was Rod Reiss, the president of the United States. Some said he looked like Teddy Roosevelt, but I disagreed. You had to be brave to look like Teddy Roosevelt, and this little snot was nothing more than a slimy career politician.

"My fellow Americans," He began, looking straight into the screen. "As many have heard, there has been devastating attacks in Europe."

The temptation to growl was hard to resist. "No shit, Sherlock."

"Quiet, Eren," Mom chided at me.

I bit my tongue.

"We have no conclusive evidence from Russian, Ukrainian, or Turkish authorities on whom conducted these terroristic attacks," President Reiss continued, glancing down at the speech papers laid out in front of him. "We Americans must be ever diligent. The threat to our country is unprecedented, and we must protect ourselves."

"We all know who conducted those attacks," Armin said to himself quietly. "Why can't he just say the Syndicate did it?"

"Given the history of attacks in Europe, we cannot risk the threat coming overseas. On that notion, I am enacting Executive Order 13800. All American citizens are hereby ordered back to the country so they may be protected, this includes any remaining embassies open after the terrorist attacks in 1995. All embassies and foreign relations in European countries shall be shut down, because in the past, they have been targets of these bombings. Any citizens not within the bounds of United States territory will face the consequences of their own action, or rather, inaction. We cannot afford to spread our brave Armed Forces across the world. We must focus on defense. If any citizen cannot afford the trip back to the United States, the U.S Department of State will help you back home. Additionally, the CIA and FBI will be conducting investigation within and outside of the country."

 _Will he ever shut the fuck up?_

Someone came on screen and whispered to the President. He gave a curt nod, and returned his gaze back to the papers.

"Another report has come in. The death total from the attacks in the Sapphire Tower in Istanbul have just come in. The total is one-thousand and rising. Please," He looked straight into the camera. "Stay safe. And if you notice anything suspicious on U.S. soil, speak out. Do not sit idly by. Together, we may overcome this obstacle and remain an everlasting, great, nation."

 _So many are dead...so many innocents! Curse those fucking TITANS!_

He stepped off of the podium, and just like that, was gone. _Thank God._

"Holy hell, school is gonna be a mess," I groaned.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! DOUBLE UPDATE?! What is this? I know you all really want some Yumikuri to happen ;) Trust me, I do too. But before I really delved into the story, I wanted to establish characters that were realistic, and to set the story. That's why the four perspectives got three chapters each, to build character. From now on I will try to stick to a pattern with the POV's with a Ymir + Krista vs. Eren + Annie 2:1. So that means there will be twice as many Ymir/Krista POV hapters as there are Eren/Annie POV chapters. Thank you for reading! ~Chemistry God**


	13. Chapter 13: Ymir

**Chapter 13: Ymir**

 **Thursday, October 14th, 2015**

I took a swig of my _Monster_ drink as I stomped down the steps of the front door. Across the street, Krista was doing the same. My stomach gurgled, and then I let out a massive belch that echoed throughout the neighborhood. The little blondie's head jerked up and she gaped at me, and in response, I crushed the empty can on my bicep. She looked away, and I was concerned for a moment. She seemed off, more off than she usually was.

My phone buzzed rather insistently in my jacket pocket. I walked over to the other side of the street where Krista was stumbling about like a nervous baboon. What had gotten her in such a panic?

"Hey Krista," I gave a whistle, smoothly falling in step with her.

"Hi Ymir," She responded. Her voice sounded hoarse.

"You doing okay?" I asked, the words tumbling out of my mouth before I had a chance to reign them in.

She seemed surprised at the question. "Y-yeah," She stammered.

I tsked my tongue, giving her a look over. She looked _really_ , _really_ familiar to someone I had seen on T.V… was it a celebrity? I wasn't too sure, but she looked like someone famous. "Awful liar, as always. I won't press the matter."

My phone vibrated again, and that earned an eyeroll. I pulled it out of my jacket and swiped at the screen. All three messages were from Annie. One was telling me about how the bus broke down and wasn't going to make to to school on time, not in the least. Second one was a sarcastic 'you're welcome' and the third was a 'end my misery'. I didn't even bother to respond to her. She was no doubt in a fucking terrible mood. It was best not to push it.

"Annie just texted me that the bus broke down," I said to her.

"Oh," She murmured, a little dumbfounded. "Frieda, my older sister, already left... "

My heart started to hammer in my chest, against my will. "I uh… Do you want a ride to school?"

"You would do that?" Krista responded. This time when she talked, she was looking straight up at me. Her big blue eyes were so… enticing. Inviting? Like hell if I knew how to describe them.

I shrugged. "Duh?"

It dawned on me that this would also be the ideal time to tell her the truth about why I was such a prick in middle school. We both turned around and started walking back to my house. My dad was just pulling out of the driveway. When he caught up to us, he slowed down, rolling his window down.

"Something wrong?" He asked, fluffing his peppered hair. He seemed nervous, too. _What is with everybody today? Everybody's gone fucking insane over those attacks._

"Nah, the bus broke down. I'll be taking this pipsqueak to school," I jerked my thumb at her.

"At this rate you'll have to buy _two_ helmets," My dad chuckled. His expression grew stern, his classic dad look, the 'you-better-not-sneak-off-and-fuck-around' look. His eyebrows always knitted together when he went into full dad mode. "Make sure you're _just_ taking her to school."

I was _not_ expecting him to say that; I could feel my pulse start to race again, and the blood rushing to my face. I thanked my mom for the tan skin to hide my embarrassment, well, for the most part. "Yeah, yeah. Go to work or something."

With one last laugh, he rolled up the window and drove off. Krista said nothing, but looked up at me with a smug expression. The expression made my toes curl in my boots. She was damned impossible.

"What are you smiling at?" We were up to the driveway now.

She gave a soft giggle and nothing more.

 _Now! Tell her! Now you big baby!_

"Wait," The word came out more softly than I wanted it to. My hand reached out for her wrist.

"Are you sure _you're_ okay?" Krista mused, eyes flicking down to my hand that was now encircling her wrist.

"Listen," I puffed out. This was going to be hard. "I know I was a huge dick to you in middle school. I… I don't know why you left, but I've always felt guilty about it. I always felt like you left because of me..." It came out as a jumbled mess. I was on the verge of tears. _Fight that back! This isn't about you, damn it! It's about her._

A strange look passed her face. She shook her head. Her eyes were clouded, as if she were deep in thought, deep in her own memories. "I didn't leave because of you," She whispered. "You were awful. There is no denying that. But…"

"You don't have to tell me anything," I blurted, blinking my eyes furiously. "Look. I just feel like I owe you an explanation, alright?"

"Alright," She responded.

"I know this isn't an excuse for how I treated you. I just. I…" I took a deep breath in. "My… my mother passed away in seventh grade. Drunk driver hit her... "

Krista's big blue eyes widened further. "Oh my God, Ymir, I am so sorry!"

I waved her apology off. "This isn't about me. It's about _you_. I took all of… my anger out on you."

"You did," She said. "But… I can see your pain Ymir. I _know_ it, _feel_ it.… "

"My mom was really important to me. She _is_ really important to me. I was just awful. And there's no excuse, or making it better. I just wanted you to understand."

The word seemed to strike a chord with her. "I do understand," She whispered, her gaze going to that far away place. "Thank you for sharing. I'm sure that wasn't easy."

My shoulders rolled on their own, shrugging away any sign of pain or weakness, an ancient habit of mine. "It wasn't." I punched in the four-digit code into the garage door, and it groaned open.

"Ymir?"

I turned to face her, and when I did, she rushed forward, gripping onto me like I was her lifeline. Her arms linked around my waist, her face buried into my chest. I didn't know what to do with my hands, so I just stood there, stunned, like an idiot. She didn't let go, and I slowly wrapped my arms around her shoulders, unsure how these kinds of things worked. I didn't remember the last time I had gotten a hug. It was… nice. Warm. And her small body was curled up to mine. We held the embrace for almost a minute. It was a minute of understanding. I was starting to flush, albeit involuntarily… Her body was just so… close.

I was the one to step away first. We were quiet for a moment, holding each other's gaze. She was so close… all I had to do was lean down and just…

 _Nope!_ I looked away, breaking free from my trance, coughing awkwardly into my elbow. Krista's face screamed disappointment and I could see her gnawing the inside of her cheek.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. She was trembling.

"Woah woah woah," I said, and went back over to her, wrapping an arm around her. "Why are you sorry?"

"I…" She trailed off, losing her train of thought. "You just don't seem the type to want a relationship."

The observation stung. I could feel my eyebrows pulling together in a frown, my lips curving down. "So?" I crossed my arms. "You don't either."

"Touche," She shrugged.

"Besides, I just opened up to you about some really sensitive shit," I grunted. "That's more than most people get."

She said nothing at that, just watched me go inside to the house. I snatched my keys off of the washing machine and bounded back outside. From the messy rack on the wall of the garage I grabbed the jet-black helmet, twirling it in my hands. I offered it to Krista, and she accepted it.

"Thanks," Krista murmured, her gaze flicking to me. Then she said something I couldn't quite catch because I was deep in thought.

"What was that?"

"I said that you're the type to pretend you don't care about anybody but you do," Krista answered.

"Alright, no need to psychoanalyze me, shrimp. And for the record, I can see right through you, too," I snapped as I mounted the motorcycle. I motioned for her to get behind me.

She didn't budge. "What do you mean?" She looked scared. That same expression that she wore when I confronted her in the locker room.

"You're hiding some deep, dark, shit," I responded. "I'll figure it out eventually. So, princess, are we going to school or not?"

She wrapped her legs around the motorcycle, pressing her hips up against my backside. She was doing that on purpose! She was making little nudges with her hips. Her hands couldn't seem to find a firm place to grab besides my hips. And when she finally did grab onto them, her thumbs were making small circles around them.

"Do you mind?" I grunted, the heat rushing to my face. I wanted nothing more than to just pin her down and… _fuck. Stop letting her get in your head, damn it! She's just trying to distract you from thinking about her past._

Her hands gave another squeeze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I turned around on the bike. We were face to face. "If you want something why don't you just ask?"

Her expression remained annoyingly innocent. I wasn't sure if I wanted to kiss her, or hit her, or both. With a sly smile, God _that_ smile, she put her helmet on over head. "I want to be taken to school," Her eyes were twinkling under that stupid visor.

Almost groaning in irritation, I turned back around and jammed the keys into the motorcycle. When I missed, Krista started giggling. Shame, red and hot, rushed to my face. Frustration was starting to build in all the wrong places. _This punk is pushing it. She's going to end up getting fucked!_

When my motorcycle purred to life, I almost shut my legs. This was pure agony, and Krista kept pressing her hips up against me! I revved the engine twice, and hard, and Krista let out a small gasp behind me. I swiped up the kickstand and rolled down the driveway. Her arms shifted from my hips to my waist, and she wrapped them around me. I could feel her chest pressed up against my back. I almost wished I didn't leave my backpack at school the night before. Just to put a barrier between our bodies.

Today was going to be God awful.

* * *

I knew Krista had volleyball practice after school. Or was it cheerleading practice? Regardless, I waited in the parking lot. It was a kind of time where you could wait with a cig and just smoke. But I didn't smoke, it was just the right mood for it. The wind was a little nippy and I did my best to hide the effect it was having on me.

School was really rough today. All of our superiors were on edge, worried about the attacks that happened yesterday. The death totals were still rising, and last I heard, the count was at around ten-thousand. Nobody in the White House had the balls to say that the TITANS were back. Everybody else knew, though. Everybody recognized the method of attacks, how coordinated they were. No investigation was needed. The fucking TITANS did it.

That's all anyone could talk about during school. There was a lot of speculation what the United States was going to do in retaliation, military wise. Eren was just about fuming the entire day, snapping at everyone and everything except for Mikasa of course. He was so mad, so furious. I was glad he was on our side.

I went to check my messages and was pleased to see one in my inbox.

 _[Mikasa Ackerman, 4:14 P.M.]: Your pizza will arrive paid in full at your door at 6_

Maybe today wasn't so awful at all.

My foot was starting to tap impatiently. When Krista walked out from the fields with her friends, still clad in cheerleading uniform, my heart just about dropped. The wind blew harder, and her skirt almost went flying up. Her thighs were curved and supple and _fuck_ they were making my mouth water! I bit my lip, my throat going dry. She was looking at me, knowing all too well I was watching her. She pushed her skirt down, and pulled a pair of sweatpants on as she reached the concrete in front of the school.

"Ymir," She called. "What are you doing here?"

I _hated_ the way she said my name…

"Waiting," I whistled and kicked the pebbles on the asphalt.

She walked up next to me, and her cheerleading friends, Hitch and Mina, giggled. "What for?"

I dropped my voice to a whisper. "I wasn't sure if you had a ride home."

Krista turned a scarlet red in under three seconds. "Oh. Well, Hitch already offered…"

"Go with her," I responded with a shrug.

She shook her head. "No, I'm going to go with you." She turned back to her friends. "I'm going home with Ymir. Thanks for the offer though, Hitch."

"No problem. I knew I couldn't compete with Ymir," She gave a playful wink and walked off with Mina with a flip of her platinum blonde hair.

I was surprised that she… chose to ride with me. I handed her my helmet. This time, when she mounted the bike with me, she didn't push my buttons. She just leaned up against me, arms tightening around me, and rested her head on my back.

"Today was a long day," She commented just before I turned on the bike.

I sighed. "Yeah. I hope Reiss actually does something about these attacks."

"Me too," She said, but her voice sounded distant. She kind of had President Reiss' eyes…

I pulled out of the parking lot and began to speed home. When we drove into the neighborhood and began to slow down, Krista said something but I couldn't hear it over the rumbling of the motorcycle. I gripped the breaks, and we slowed down as we pulled up to the street in front of her house. I turned the bike off and got off, offering my hand for her to help her down.

"Say that again?"

"It's nothing…"

"Seriously. What do you want?"

She blushed. "I don't… like asking for help. You've already given me ride to school and a ride back home. Nevermind, sorry."

"Alright, well, if you need anything, I'm just right across the street. But don't rely on it, punk."

Krista smiled at me and got off the motorcycle, her fingers intertwining with my hand. She took off her helmet and handed it to me. Before I could place it on my head, she rushed over and gave me a peck on the cheek. I dropped my helmet and it landed, and rolled away.

We both reached for the helmet on the ground at the same time. Our heads knocked together, and I stumbled backwards, hand flying to my forehead.

"Fuck," The groan came out of my mouth louder than I intended it to.

"Sorry," Krista squeaked.

"Stop sayin' sorry all the time," I muttered, rubbing my head. She handed the helmet to me.

"Sorry. Shit!"

I gave a laugh. "Okay, okay. Cut it out." I dug into the pocket of my jacket, and pulled out my phone. Suddenly I wasn't so sure of myself. I swallowed as I unlocked my phone. "If you ah, want to text me? I can give you my number…"

"Yeah!" She found her own phone, unlocked it, and exchanged it with mine. She tapped the screen and I did the same. Krista gave the phone back.

"Text you later," She smiled.

"Y-yeah?" I cleared my throat. "I mean… Only if you want to."


	14. Chapter 14: Krista

**Chapter 14: Krista**

 **Friday, October 15th, 2015**

This entire week had almost been too long to bear. All anyone could talk about were the attacks on Moscow, Istanbul, and Odessa. Discussions were filled with what my father was going to do about the threat. I hated when he was on the news more than usual. People tended to ask more questions that way. And with the way Ymir had been looking at me lately, with a slightly confused gaze, it made me even more uncomfortable. I hated it. I hated my damned father. Not only that, Frieda looked even more like my father, as she shared his dark hair. She also looked just like her birth mother, who was First Lady.

The news knew all about Frieda, even though she avoided the press like the black plague. She left the White House when I called her cell phone, even though father made me swear not to. It was an emergency. I would have _died_ without it. She was the only reason I made it out of the house of my 'mother'. I frantically called her as the woman began to throw a fit. She relayed the information discreetly to my father, who had the police sent in.

It was too late by then, though. She had beaten everything out of me, taken the life straight out of me. After that incident, Frieda left to take care of me. It was only a few months ago, that it happened, but it felt like millennia ago.

The press hardly seemed to notice when Frieda left, as she was so quiet. My father did not bring attention to the matter, either. The damned fucker didn't even visit me in the hospital! There I was, half-dead, and he didn't even bother to come see me.

It was only a matter of time before the blood-thirsty press realized that the President of the United States of America had a bastard child. They would praise me for dedicating my life to the Army. They would think I am worthwhile. And, when I finally died in combat, they would call me a martyr. I would be a national hero, be written down in the history books. That was all I wanted, really. I didn't care how I was written down. As long as I was gone, as long as I was remembered…

I blinked out of my stupor. The ride back home on the bus seemed bumpier than the ride to school. My gaze drifted towards the back of Ymir's head. The stupid girl, who made everything make absolutely no sense. _The girl that made me want to stay._ My heart felt like it was going to explode every time I saw her. I couldn't help but pity her. To lose a mother seemed hard. And I remembered the exact week where Ymir's expression grew broken, and she became more angry. She must have loved her mother a lot. I envied her for it, I never had the opportunity for any sort of parental love.

But here Ymir was, ready to share the deepest parts of her soul with me while I was not willing to do the same. Maybe some day I could tell her about my fake mother, and about how I was the bastard child of the President.

The bus bumped again, and this time Ymir cursed as her backpack fell to the ground. I almost giggled at the sight. Oh _Lord_ was she so hot when she was flustered. I wanted nothing more to press my lips against hers. To just _feel_ something, anything.

The bus grinded to a stop. My backpack was light as a feather. This week was also the week presentations were due for our project with Mr. Bozado. I had done the project with Sasha, and we both decided, without any sort of compromise, to work on Ancient Persia. I was confident we were to receive a good grade.

I stood up and marched outside of the bus, almost bumping into Ymir on the way out. She looked behind her shoulder, and down at me, her expression was apathetic, but fake. It was the mask she wore so others wouldn't bother her. Or maybe she did it for her reputation. She _did_ have a reputation for not giving a single 'fuck', as she put it. Even though, I could tell, deep down she did. She was just a stubborn little shit.

"How was school?" I asked her as soon as we stepped off of the bus.

"Fucking shit. I was partnered up with Daz and he was an idiot," Ymir grumbled. Her eyes grew more distant, and she stared pointedly at the ground. Her gaze narrowed and she kneeled on the curb, picking up a leash that held no dog.

"What is this doing here?" She asked. She examined the leash closer, and found a dog tag on it. Her expression grew confused.

She was starting to worry me. "What's wrong, Ymir?"

"This dog tag has my address on it…" Ymir responded. Her mouth dropped open, realizing something.

"What is it?" I pressed as her expression grew excited.

She bolted off without even answering my question. I ran after her, and her long ass legs were hard to keep up with. She was running straight towards her house, where her father was waiting with a kennel in the driveway. Ymir let out an excited howl, and sprinted up the driveway. I was still rounding the curve of the street by the time she reached her dad.

There was a dog in her driveway, a fully grown German Shepard. I slowed down as I drew closer to the driveway. I did not go up it because I did not want to intrude on the moment. Ymir let out a sound that sounded barely human, and she kneeled and wrapped her arms around the canine.

She was crying. The girl who didn't cry when she had her lights punched out was crying because of a dog with a torn up ear and a missing eye. It was a hideous dog, fully grown, with a mangy coat that was bald in some spots. The German Shepard didn't seem that old, maybe just a few years.

"Oh my God, Dad, thank you," Ymir sniffed as she stood up. "Where'd you get him?"

"From a dump, probably," I couldn't help but mutter under my breath.

Ymir shot me a glare and her jaw throbbed. She tore her gaze off of me and turned to her dad, who was barely hiding a smirk at our exchange. He coughed a little to clear his throat.

"Just at the pound. Saw him and knew he needed to be yours. He's also house trained, which is a plus. I don't wanna clean up this mutt's piss."

Ymir embraced her dad fiercely, almost tipping him over. Her attention soon returned to the dog.

"Does he have a name?" Ymir asked, rubbing the dog's good ear.

"No," Her dad answered, crossing his arms. "The pound took him in, but he doesn't respond to any name, not even the one on his name tag when they found him." He scratched the back of his head, a habit his daughter must have picked up on. "I think… his name was Chip? Some stupid name."

"Huh…" Ymir scratched her own head, deep in thought. "I'm gonna call him Shepard."

 _How original, Ymir._ "You're calling a German Shepard, Shepard?" I giggled, hand covering my mouth.

Ymir gave me a side eye, and she cautiously brought her face towards the dog. The German Shepard growled a little, but then once he realized that Ymir was not going to hurt him, he licked her cheek. "I'll have you know Shepard is the name of the hero of the galaxy, the most famous space marine, the savior of the Earth. Commander Shepard."

"Let me guess," I drawled. "That's a character from _Assassin's Creed_?"

Ymir looked offended, and her hand went to cover her heart. "You're kidding, right?"

I shrugged. It's not like I played video games. "No?"

"Commander Shepard is from _Mass Effect_ ," Ymir answered matter-of-factly.

"It suits him," Ymir's dad added. "All beat up, but still going strong."

"Shepard it is," Ymir declared. She turned to look at me under that intense golden gaze of hers. I suppressed a shudder. How she looked at me drove me crazy. "Do you want to meet him?"

I hesitated, I wasn't a big fan of dogs to begin with. Plus this one was butt-ass ugly, and looked ready to hunt. "I…"

"It's okay if you don't," Ymir responded gently. Her dad smirked and coughed.

"I have to go back to work," He said, glancing between us. "Ymir, I'm taking the motorcycle, so you can go to the store and get supplies and put 'em in the trunk."

Ymir beamed. "Sweet! Thanks dad. Thank you so much."

"You can take your girlfriend with," He suggested as he walked into the garage.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ymir growled, face blushing a bright red. The tips of her ears were pink. Oh she was so cute…

Shepard barked at Ymir, and wagged his tail. His good ear drooped a little bit. I had to admit, that made him look adorable, despite the messed up eye.

"Do you want to come to the store with me?" Ymir asked, scratching the back of her head. "You can pick out a toy for him, or something," She added hastily.

I couldn't help but smile at her. "Yes, I do."

* * *

After returning back to Ymir's house after a two hour long shopping spree, we decided to order a pizza. We had almost bought out the entire pet store, with how enthusiastic Ymir was. She wanted nothing but the best food for Shepard, who was sniffing out all of the treats on the opposite side of the aisle. Of course, being the soft-hearted girl she was, Ymir bought not one, but two entire boxes of treats for Shepard.

Ymir was exposing a side I had never seen her wear before. She radiated kindness, excitement. It was hard not to be affected by it, her smile and chuckle were contagious. I found myself smiling for no reason, giggling when her jokes weren't even that funny. Her dog, despite his outward appearance, was good-natured and easygoing.

Our bounty included two dog dishes, one for food, one for water, a bed, a spiked collar that was black and made out of real leather, two sacks of dog food, and of course the treats she had bought in her state of weakness. Ymir even let me pick out two toys for Shepard. I picked out a large rope toy to play tug-of-war with and a massive stuffed duck that he could rip apart if he wanted to.

The doorbell rang and Shepard didn't even bark, though he did run to the door with his tail wagging. Ymir answered it, paid the pizza delivery man, and returned with the glorious nourishment.

"Thank you, for all of this," I mumbled as I took a slice of Hawaiian pizza.

I didn't particularly enjoy pineapple on pizza, but Ymir was paying for it, so I didn't have much room to complain. Shepard was happily munching away on his own food. Ymir had this look in her eye that made me flush.

"No problem, princess," Ymir chuckled as she took a bite out of the food.

When we finished dinner, I put the cups and the plates into the dishwasher.

'You don't have to do that," Ymir called from the living room. "I can take care of it later." When she came back, she was holding a DVD case in her hand.

"I already put them away, it's no big deal."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Do you want to watch a movie?" She asked, giving the case a wave. "Up… in my room?"

 _Her room… with a bed… and her…_ I blinked, trying to clear my thoughts. "S-sure."

She gave a small smile. "Alright. Shepard!" She called. The dog, much to my surprise, perked up and went over to investigate the sound of Ymir's voice. "C'mon pup, we're going upstairs. That's where your bed is."

Ymir started up the stairs and turned, giving me an expecting look. "Are you coming or what?" Shepard dashed up the stairs, heading to Ymir's room.

"Y...yeah." I stuttered and bounded up the stairs after she disappeared into her room.

Her bed was bigger than I was expecting. It was significantly larger than my own, there was plenty of room for the both of us to sit down and watch the movie without even having to touch one another. She was already setting up her laptop, which hissed to life. Shepard took up residence on the side of Ymir's bed frame, and curled up in a ball, resting peacefully on his own bed.

"What are we watching?" I asked and settled down next to her. Her beautiful dark skin was radiating heat.

She smiled at me, her teeth brinkling. " _Edge of Tomorrow_."

"I'm not even surprised."

Ymir snorted, the bridge of her nose crinkling. _Lord is she cute…_ "Were you expecting a romantic comedy?"

I bit my lip, and looked away. Her gaze was simply too intense to hold. "N-no."

Ymir clicked a few buttons on her laptop. "Does your sister know you're here?"

"Yeah, I texted her as soon as we left for the store," I responded.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure," Ymir shrugged, leaning back against the wooden bed frame.

The movie started playing with a trumpeting introduction. "That's sweet of you."

She didn't respond, only cracked her knuckles.

"What's the movie about?" I asked.

"It's about this guy who is a soldier and he has to go fight, but when he dies, he keeps waking up and reliving the same day," Ymir answered, keeping her eyes to the screen.

"Sounds interesting."

"Mhm."

It was kind of awkward, sitting on her bed. We weren't quite sitting next to each other. Our legs weren't even touching. She was close, though, I could smell her _Old Spice_ and the lingering scent of fresh pizza. She smelt really, _really_ , good. And she was radiating her classic heat. I wanted to be closer to her.

I didn't have to move. She shifted her body weight so our thighs were brushed up against one another.

"You're still in your uniform," Ymir noted. "Do you want some PJ's to change into?"

"That would be nice," I admitted. Ymir hit a button on the laptop, pausing the movie that was only about a minute in.

She rummaged through her closet and retrieved a shirt and pair of sleeping shorts that both would be far too big for me. She tossed me the clothes.

"You can change in the bathroom, it's just across the hall."

I knew for damn sure I was _not_ going to change in the bathroom. This opportunity was too perfect. I was glad I wasn't wearing the most hideous pair of undergarments I owned.

"No, I'm fine," I said in a sing-song voice. "I'll change in here."

"There's really no need…" Ymir's throat bobbed up and down, and then she let out a cough. She was starting to get flustered. _Good_.

"No, no, it's no problem, really," I smiled and began to unbutton my shirt. I turned my back to Ymir.

I let the shirt fall to the floor, and the cold air of the room rushed to meet my skin. I undid the belt of the uniform and slid out of my pants.

Ymir let out a heavy breath. I could feel her golden gaze on me. "You're beautiful."

I froze, pants halfway off. I stumbled, foot stuck in the pant leg, and fell to the ground. Shepard jumped up from the ground and onto the foot of the bed, trembling in fear. Ymir gave him a reassuring pat before rushing to help me.

She kneeled next to me, and eased my leg out of the pants. "Are you okay?"

My entire body was flushing with heat, _especially_ between my legs. "Ah, yeah, thank you."

She leaned over me, and reached for the clothes that she had given to me. She handed me them. Her pupil's were massive, almost consuming the entirety of her iris. Her warmth was radiating off of her body, hot with want…

I took the clothes, trembling, and using them to cover my exposed chest. She drew closer to me, but leaving me the choice to back away. I froze again, unsure what to do. I _wanted_ her to kiss me.

"Ymir," I spoke softly, voice hardly above a whisper. "Please," I couldn't help but whimper.

Ymir's throat bobbed once more, and then she closed the distance.

Her lips pressed up against mine, surprisingly soft yet clumsy. Her arm curled around my bare back, spreading the inferno that now raged inside of me. I moved my mouth against hers, pressing hard against her needy lips, allowing her to press into me. My hands ran through her hair, twisting and pulling.

She groaned, and pulled me on top of her completely, my legs straddling her hips. I was on fire. She was the source of the flame. Her mouth broke from mine, and she traced her lips around my jawline.

I let out a small whimper as her tongue flicked across the front of my neck. "Oh my God."

She stopped, pulling away and wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Is this okay?"

"Y-yeah. Can I finish getting dressed though?"

Ymir turned bright red. "Of course. S-sorry."

"My fault," I managed to breathe out. "I did this on purpose."

"I know, I didn't need to follow through, though."

I pulled her shirt over my head, and I just bout was drowning in it. I stuck my legs through the shorts and rejoined Ymir on the bed. She tentatively wrapped an arm around me.

"Can we do that again?" She asked, almost shyly.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I know this update is really late! But I had testing out the wazoo so it was really intense! I also didn't want to rush this chapter, I wanted to give you guys a quality one! So it finally happened! Only time will tell how their relationship holds up. Until next time, ~Chemistry God**_


	15. Chapter 15: Annie

**Chapter 15: Annie**

 **Saturday, October 24th, 2015**

By the time I arrived at Armin's house, it was mid-afternoon. The trees were naked, exposed to the elements. It was chilly, and his neighborhood, although not rich, was very nice. Much more nice than the dump I lived in. It was a typical suburban neighbourhood, white picket fence, the despicable American dream. The grass was mowed down to a military-esque, uniform, length. The only thing out of place was the occasional run-down vehicle that was probably for teenage drivers.

I remembered how he approached me on Wednesday, asking discreetly for additional help with physical training. Ever since working together on the history project, we had begun to talk more. I would not say were friends, but we were perhaps close to becoming so. He was intelligent, very much so, and observant of everything that was happening in the world around him. His brain was a sponge- he picked up information only looking over it a single time. He pulled his own weight, and he was a good partner to have. He was handsome, in a puppy kind of a way. He made me glad I was into both men and women, to appreciate the talents he could offer to the world. But he also made me want to pull my hair out. I was too easily drawn into attachments. They were strictly forbidden. Afterall, fraternizing with the enemy was to fraternize with death.

Ymir could not be helped, she was charming, in her own manner. I kept to myself for that very reason. I could not possibly associate myself with Reiner and Bertholdt, otherwise it would arouse suspicion, or potential suspicion. We could not risk the mission for my lonely heart. They had each other, at least. They were like brothers. To keep them separate would be to keep brothers separated. So they were allowed to talk. That left me totally alone, vulnerable to attachments that would jeopardize my loyalty. First Mikasa, now Armin.

I pulled my recently acquired bike on the side of the driveway, I brushed the kickstand down so it stood upright. My stomach churned, and I was growing more and more nervous as time went by.

Why we were at his house and not the gym was beyond me. I took a deep breath and walked up the sidewalk. My knuckles rapped against the door and I heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind it. When the door sung open it was not Armin but who I assumed, Armin's grandfather. He looked too old to be his father. He had a gray, almost white, moustache and beard. His hair was clean cut, and fell just above his ears.

"You must be Miss Leonhardt," He said, his voice was gentle like Armin's. Soft, quiet, yet assertive.

"Pleasure to meet you," I extended a hand, which he took in two of his own. He cupped my hand and shook it gently.

"So polite!" He exclaimed, his light brown eyes twinkling. "Armin," He called. "Your guest is here." He turned back to look at me. "You may call me Mister Arlert. Come in my dear."

There was a scrambling of feet down stairs and soon Armin appeared in the doorway, blocking me from entering. He looked excited, but the smile he wore was sheepish.

"I am sorry for not answering the door," Armin said. "I have to admit I was drawn into a book and was distracted."

"Why don't you let Miss Leonhardt into the house, Armin?" His grandfather chuckled.

Armin jumped back, completely and utterly awkward. He was about to stammer an apology when I cut him off.

"You can call me Annie," I told Mr. Arlert as I stepped into their home.

Mr. Arlert went back into the living room on the right side of the house. I watched him take a seat on his rocking chair, and how he placed a book on his lap. _It is easy to see where Armin gets his bookworm tendencies from. His only role model reads all the time, it seems._

"So, I was thinking we should write out a plan," Armin's voice brought me back to the present. He had a pad of notebook paper in one hand, and a pencil in the other.

"We don't need a plan, we just go through with whatever we think works best," I explained.

"What?" Armin asked, setting down his office supplies on the counter.. "But you need details…"

"This is why you aren't fit," I said, perhaps a little too harsh. "You plan too much, and you don't execute enough."

His blue eyes blinked in surprise, though I did not see any sign of wounded pride in them. "That's a good point," Armin sighed. "Too much planning. I cannot help it, though."

There was a silence between us. Curiosity had been nagging at me for a while now.

"Why me?" I blurted out.

My sudden outburst startled Armin, he jerked a little where he stood. He seemed to understand the context of my question, however.

"Well. Eren would be a good choice," Armin said.

"He _is_ your best friend," I agreed.

Armin nodded, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind his ear. "Eren wouldn't understand. He would tell me that I am doing just fine, even though I am not. Mikasa… She's my other best friend. But… She is most definitely not the training with others type. You know that, though."

A faint blush tinted my cheeks. "I suppose I do."

"I didn't answer your question, though. I chose you because you would know what to do. You have the ability to tell me what to do. And I need that. Otherwise I am going to keep falling behind. And I don't want to be the weak link anymore."

"I understand. Less talking, more action. Let's get started. Are you ready?"

"Yes, as ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright," I said. "We're going to build your core strength first."

Armin nodded. He looked out of place with his athletic shorts and muscle shirt with a compression long-sleeved shirt underneath. He was still very much scrawny, but he was starting to have some definition in his muscles. "Where are we going to go?"

"Outside," I answered bluntly as I stepped out the door of the house.

He scrambled outside, nervous, and just behind me.

* * *

"Please," Armin gasped, doubling over, hips on his sides. His hair was drawn up into a messy ponytail. "May we take a break?"

"No," I said. "Again. Faster this time."

"I can't!" Armin grumbled. Irritation was starting to cloud his usually calm disposition. I wanted to chip away at that stoic wall, I wanted to expose his soft, irritable, underbelly. "It's impossible. I can hardly feel my legs. Or my arms! Or! Or anything!"

"Do you want to get better or not?" I asked him. I was starting to sweat myself, but not nearly as much as he was. He looked just about ready to pass out. But like my superiors always told me, pain is weakness leaving the body. I had to mold him into something stronger.

"I do!" He responded, throwing his hands up into the air. "But running me down like a dog does not seem like the way to go about this!"

"Mind over body." I told him, voice low and quiet. "If you can overcome this barricade you can do anything you want."

Armin bowed his head in defeat. "Alright. What do you want me to do?"

"Fifty pushups."

He obeyed, and he got to his knees, the browning grass coming up to his wrists. He hoisted himself up from the ground. I joined him in the grass, so he would know that he was not alone in the endeavour.

"One."

We both bent at the elbows.

"Two."

He let out a grunt. I looked him over. His biceps, his forearms, his everything was trembling. Yet he pressed on with a determination that was even deeper than even Eren's.

"Three."

Once again, he lowered himself to the ground, completing a perfect, by the book, push up.

"Four."

At twenty-five, he collapsed with a cry. This was the fourth set of fifty I had made him do within the four hours I had been at his house. It was almost night time now, the sun was already passed where I could see it. It was getting dark, and even more chilly than it had been before.

He regained his position and began to do more push ups. He collapsed again at thirty, but he pushed on. He was starting to get furious. _Good. Unlock the beast deep inside him._

"Keep going!" I hissed at him.

He let out a short yell, and pushed down on the ground harder.

"Ten more!" I told him. "Can you even do it?"

He was gasping for air, it sounded like he was having an asthma attack. His breaths came in great whoops and coughs.

"I!" He groaned as he did another. "Bet!" He continued. "You!" Armin did another. "I!" There was only one more left. I was impressed. "Can!"

Once he finished the last push up, he rolled over on his back, chest heaving. "I told you I could… do it."

"Now get up."

Armin did as he was told. He looked white as a sheet.

"And go inside," I told him with a slight smile. "Good job. Go get some water."

"Come with me," Armin said.

I froze. I had wanted to go home afterwards. _But to what? A deadbeat dad?_

"I don't want to intrude…"

Armin shook his head. "You already made me go through the toughest training session I've lived through. You can intrude. I promise." He was smiling at me. "Besides," He added. "My grand-pop likes you."

"Okay."

I followed him inside, the smell of a freshly baked good infiltrated the house. I did not even remember the last time I had baked in my house. Mr. Arlert had baking gloves on his hands, a steaming hot pot pie in between them. My mouth watered.

"I am going to go shower, actually. The last thing I want to do is disgust you with my smell," Armin said, a faint blush tinting his cheeks.

"I am sure I can handle it," I responded.

"I insist. I'll be down in a bit."

I was unsure what to do. I took a deep breath in, and shut my eyes tightly. Guilt slammed into me, unwanted. _To think you are going to betray the very people who feed you. A traitor in the midsts of heroes. Despicable._

"Come into the kitchen, dear," Mr. Arlert called. "I have everything ready for dinner."

I bit my lip and looked at the silver ring on the index finger of my right hand. It was the type of ring that spun around in the center while the rest was solid. Mikasa had given it to me a few days ago. Looking at the ring was hard. Especially because it was Mikasa who had given it to me…

My courage had left me, yet my feet were moving towards the kitchen, ever cautious.

"I do hope you like pot pie," Mr. Arlert said, his light brown eyes were so kind.

"I do, actually," I smiled. It was a genuine one, too.

"Do your parents know you'll be home at a later time?"

The question did not faze me. "I don't have parents."

"Oh my goodness gracious, are you an orphan?"

"No sir. I just have a father…" I trailed off, not wanting to explain my situation to an almost stranger.

"I see," Armin's grandfather said as he pulled out a seat and sat down. "Well, if you ever need a place to stay, there is plenty of room in this house."

I was taken aback by the generous offer. The ability to form words into coherent sentences left me. "I-... Thank you."

Armin bounded down the stairs, and a few moments later, appeared in the kitchen his hair neatly groomed back.

"What did I miss?"

"Oh, nothing," I said, and dived into the pot pie. The steam tickled my cheeks and when I finally took a bite, it tasted like pure heaven. "...Wow."

"A good wow, I am hoping?" Mr. Arlert asked.

"Mhm," I nodded, taking another bite. I swallowed before adding on. "This is the first hot, homemade, dinner I've had in months."

"Well, like I said before, you're welcome into our home any time," Mr. Arlert said with a smile, the lines underneath his eyes creasing.

"Yeah, I would love to have you over more," Armin beamed. "You helped out a lot. Even...even though it hurt."

"I have been told pain is just weakness leaving the body," I said, reflecting on what my superiors drilled into my head so many years ago.

What they continued to drill in to this day.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I know this probably wasn't the chapter you guys were hoping for, but I really needed to get some Armin and Annie friendship bonding going! And Annie is going to be a crucial character in the story, so her motives and character need to be well developed! Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Take care! ~Chemistry God**_

 _ **P.S. Two chapters from now, you all should be excited about. Halloween parties are legendary.**_


	16. Chapter 16: Ymir

**Chapter 16: Ymir**

 **Monday, October 26th, 2015**

"Alright cadets, hop on the bus," Mr. Shadis ordered, his tired looking eyes bulged. "Hustle! It's a thirty minute drive."

I barely restrained the glare threatening to escape through my eyes. He was being an annoying prick today, and ruining my unusually good mood, though him being an annoying prick wasn't unusual at all. I stepped up the stairs of the bus. The bus driver thanked us for our service, even though we weren't even commissioned as officers yet. I took a seat across from Marco, who was sitting near the aisle of the bus. On his inside was Jean, his hands were close to Marco's thigh. _Will they just fuck and get it over with already?_ Mikasa and Annie were in the seat in front of me, though they were a healthy distance apart.

The cold from the window was stealing the heat away from my skin. I stared out the window, going back into memories. I thought back to that fateful day, October fifteenth, and my body flushed with heat. A stupid smile spread across my face, and I buried my grin in the crook of my neck. The anticipation was so huge that night, and my nerves had been almost shot. First, I had gotten a dog. It was a dream come true. And then, oh damn, I got to kiss Krista. I remembered how small she was compared to me, how she kind of curled into me while she was almost naked. The thought of her near-nudity brought me close to tears. She was soft, yet she had muscular undertones. The curve of her ass was out of this world, and her boobs were great, too.

Best of all, though, was the feeling of her lips on mine. She was more rough than I thought she would be the first time kissing, but the fact that she was rough didn't surprise me. She seemed the type. I remembered our constant banter about virginity and sex, about roughness.

And then how, while we were watching the movie, her hand slipped down the front of my pants, grazing the edges of my boyshorts. She didn't do anything, but her hand, _there_ , drove me crazy. I wanted to fuck her senseless, but something was holding me back. She deserved more, better, she deserved more than to be be fucked and forgotten, discarded and unwanted. I didn't want her to think I was using her. But I had the feeling she wasn't quite genuine with her feelings, either. So I decided to wait and didn't allow things to move forward. Besides, being walked in on by my dad was not high on my priority list.

 _You have feelings for her, Ymir. Just face it. More than you would like to admit you have. You like her. Like, like like her. But she doesn't like you, how you like her. You know that._

Nobody sat next to me on the bus. I was surprised there was open seats, but when I looked around, there was a couple of seats that had three cadets in it. The realization stung me more than I wish it had. I never was exactly Miss Sociable but this seemed to hurt a lot more than I wanted. I was growing to be better, after all, less bite-your-face-off-ish.

The stinging sensation didn't last long as my thoughts drifted back to Krista, as they always had seemed to do in the past almost two weeks. The guys were right. She was an Angel. But they didn't get to kiss her. I did.

I wanted more. I was a greedy human being, I knew that, but I couldn't help but want more. Her lips were addicting, her tongue mesmerizing. A flash of hot white pressure hit between my legs. It was growing harder to breathe at an even pace. Oh god, what was I becoming? Whipped at first kiss.

I overheard mentions of a Halloween party. Oh _shit_ Halloween was my favorite holiday. Fucking candy and hot girls in costumes that hardly passed as clothing. Jean was hosting the party this time. His parties were always the best, even better than Annie's. She always managed to snag some cool location to host her parties. They were never at her house.

Jean stood up on the bus, looking over at me.

"Yo Ymir," He said. "You wanna come?"

The question almost shocked me. The feeling from before had disappeared completely. "Hell yeah!"

"Sweet. Bring booze if you can."

"You know I always do," I chuckled.

"Heh, damn right."

When we arrived at the range, the bus came to a screeching halt. We filed out of the bus, and the other bus filled with cadets came up behind ours, and cadets began to pour out of it. There were almost one hundred of us in the range. The other one hundred of us were back in school, going through our academic curriculum rather than our militaristic one. We were stronger in numbers, though the program at Maria High was the largest in the country. No other school compared to ours in amount of cadets. We had roughly two-hundred cadets enlisted in our school, while the national average was fifty per school district, not school.

I wasn't quite sure why we were the largest. Our band of hooligans didn't seem more patriotic than the rest of the country's teenagers. Our instructors frequently talked about it, too. None of them could pinpoint the reason why there was such a high interest in the Reserve Officer Training Corps in Maria.

I didn't know, and I didn't care. The TITAN Syndicate had to be stopped, and the more crazy smart teenagers there were ready to fight the battle, the better.

We were to be commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army, Air Force, or as ensigns in the Navy. The program used to be for college students, but after the severe loss of life after the TITAN attacks, the United States decided that the program needed to be adjusted. They experimented upon one group of high school students, and put them through the same kind of academic and physical rigour as a college cadet would. Their results found that the teenagers were more adaptable than their college counterparts, that they were more flexible but at the same time, more likely to follow direct orders after training for four years. They of course adjusted for the high school students, ensuring they had no homework on top of the high stress training. Their performance scores were triple those of the college ROTC cadets.

So, the president before President Reiss… I can't quite remember his name, but he shifted the funding for ROTC from colleges to high school. And here we were, little child soldiers ready to fight in the adult war.

We split into two separate groups, and with my stupendous luck, I was stuck with Mr. Shadis, who was just in a peachy mood today. And by peachy, I mean a huge pain in my ass. And a stick in the mud. The other half of the cadets went off with Mike, Mr. Shadis' right hand man.

The whisperings of the Rocky mountains, the forests, and the closeness of the ocean made Washington an ideal place for Lab simulations.

Lab simulations were the best part of training, or so I was told. You start doing them when you're a junior in high school. They gave us airsoft or paintball guns, and simulated tactical missions on an enemy base, or to capture the opposing team. It was all good fun, and it was intense. It was like capture the flag on steroids, except when you got shot with the airsoft gun, it hurt like a motherfucker.

We began to trek up the hill, and that was when the adrenaline hit my veins. I was glad to be in the front of the line, I could see just how cool the forest was. The leaves were almost all gone. They crunched underneath our boots. The woods had an eerie feeling about it. It was ghostly, almost.

When we reached the top of the hill, and it took a while, almost fifteen minutes, we stood in a line, tense, waiting for Mr. Shadis' orders. There was a small cabin to our right. It was not new, and not very run down. It must have been constructed prior the nineties. It had a glossy exterior, as if it had just been painted over. The cabin smelt like fresh stain, it was a deep mahogany color.

"Alright maggots," Mr. Shadis growled, his voice echoing ominously in the silence of the woods. "We're going to arm ourselves and put on equipment. You have ten minutes to complete this. If you are not ready by the time the ten minutes expires, you will complete the lab with the equipment you have on. So my advice is, go find your equipment fast. Otherwise you shits are gonna be in a world of pain. You can find your rifles and masks and body armor in the cabin. File in neatly. Or else."

I was glad I was in the front of the line. I speedily half walked, half marched, ahead to the cabin. The door could not be opened, so I waited not so patiently for Mr. Shadis to unlock it. He muttered a half-assed apology under his breath. I walked into the cabin, and walked all the way to the back so mostly everybody could file into the cabin. I equipped myself. I put a helmet with a plastic visor on my head, then I strapped body armor to my torso. Elbow and knee pads went on next after I filled my airsoft rifle with pellets. I stuffed two extra ammo packs in the pockets of my body armor.

Whatever was extra, I handed to those waiting outside of the cabin. Those who were done arming themselves walked out of the cabin, and we got into a straight line, waiting for our instructor's command. There was quiet murmurs of excitement. This was our first Lab ever. It was a completely new experience. And with this group of cadets, it was going to be a blast.

* * *

I weaved through the brush, airsoft rifle in hand. My eyes scanned the area, and I held up a fist. Reiner, Bertolt and Annie were behind me, and they stopped moving at my signal. They tried to peer of my shoulder, trying to see what I was seeing.

In front of me I could see the enemy squadron, dead center, completely unaware of us in the underbrush. I thanked God for the concealing nature, and I crouched, lowering myself to the ground. My squadmates did the same. Ahead of us stood Eren, Armin and Mikasa. Marco was nowhere to be seen, but I knew better. He was scouting ahead, I knew it, it was in his nature, to search out threats before they reached his squad. He was very intuitive in that way. Armin was drawing in the dirt, murmuring something to Mikasa as Eren stood guard, eyes scanning the perimeter, searching for a threat.

We were the threat.

A wicked grin spread across my face. Oh, sweet mother fucking Theresa, this was going to be fun.

Mr. Shadis had divided us into two teams; the TITAN Syndicate and the United States. We were assigned United States, and it was hilarious to see Eren's volatile reaction when he realized that he would be playing the villain, the thing he swore to fight against. The group he hated the most. The irony did not escape me.

Mr. Shadis then split us into groups of four, so there was twenty-five squads each. The TITAN syndicate had the edge, they had one more squad than the United States team. I had no idea why Mr. Shadis picked four people to a squad. It was only half of what a normal, non-commissioned officer would be in charge of. Us commissioned officers would hold even more responsibility and be in charge of even more soldiers.

No matter his reason, we were here.

"I hear something," Reiner hissed. His already beady eyes were narrowed. He turned his back, facing the opposite direction Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were.

"Copy that," Bert said, turning his back as well.

"You guys don't have to be fucking nerds about this," Annie muttered and she gave a glance behind her back.

I kept an eye out on the group of three in front of us, wondering where Marco went, or if he had been hit, and therefore out of the simulation. I could feel Reiner tense behind me.

"In the clearing behind us," He whispered very softly. "Marco is looking for us."

"We should gun him down," Bert suggested. The poor idiot was sweating a gallon of water at once.

I resisted rolling my eyes and the urge to raise my voice. "We would lose the element of surprise. Our objective is to eliminate the TITAN threat, remember? We can take more out if we go for the three."

"They might not hear us through the thick brush," Annie said. The way her icy blue eyes were analyzing the situation made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"They would definitely hear us," I countered. "I can't believe they don't hear us right now."

"Fine then, you stubborn ass. They wouldn't be able to get to him in time. I say we step out of the brush, take him out, go back in, and then ambush the three once they hear noise," Annie said.

"Fine. I'll see if I can snipe one of them once they come around the corner," I said.

"Alright," Reiner grunted. He crouched and inched his way through the thistles.

Bert and Annie followed him. Marco's back was turned to the thistles. The three of them were dead silent, almost too silent. Like... they were born to do it, as if they had been trained. It was a little fucking terrifying.

The three of them bursted out of the brush at once, guns blazing. They fired repeatedly, excessively, at Marco's back. He yelled out in surprise, and dropped to the ground. They continued to fire even though he was down. Marco gave out a groan, but stayed on the forest floor. He was out. Nobody could have survived that in a real life fight.

"Confirmed kill," Reiner chuckled. There was this… certain glint in his eyes. It immediately made me uneasy.

I looked back to the brush, still stuck happily in the thistle. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin's heads were all perked up. They sped walked around the thick patch of thistle. I could barely even see them through it, and I was glad I was wearing a visor because my eyes would have been poked out by thorns and branches.

The three of them, Reiner, Bert, and Annie, were already ready for the other three to come. When they entered the clearing, they met the same fate as Marco; dozens of small pellets to the head and chest. Shots meant for the kill.

Eren cursed as he fell to the ground, and Armin started to scold him from the dirt.

"I told you not to rush in without a plan!" Armin sighed.

"Shut up, both of you," Mikasa groaned. "Looks like the Americans won."

"You know," Marco said, voice still scratchy from the pain. "You guys didn't have to gun me down like that. A few shots were enough."

Reiner scratched the back of his head while Bert looked sheepish and Annie was disinterested.

"Sorry, we got a bit carried away," Reiner shrugged.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Ayyy guys! Sorry for the lateness again, lmao. School is almost out so I'll be posting a lot more, maybe even every five days! Lol... maybe this chapter was a hint of foreshadowing? Hm. Anyways, next chapter is gonna be a blast to write. Thank you for sticking with this story! Remember to review, follow, favorite, and share with your friends. Thank you again! Lots of love to you guys. ~Chemistry God**_


	17. Chapter 17: Krista

**Chapter 17: Krista**

 **Saturday, October 31st, 2015**

I rang the doorbell to a typical suburban, white picket fence, house. Music was not yet playing to my surprise, I was early, but for good reason. It was always to have a plan… Especially when it came to what I was brewing up in my head. Oh, Ymir was in for a surprise. A smile curled on my lips. She was going to be mine tonight.

Jean answered the door. His hair was done up in a mohawk, and he was sporting a torn up leather jacket, a skull bandana, and torn blue jeans. On his wrists were spiked bracelets, on his feet, combat boots.

"Oh hey Krista," He grinned, letting me in. "You're early."

"I know," I smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm here to help."

"Jeez, thanks. I could really use the help, actually. I have so much to do and we only have an hour left!" Jean groaned and he scratched the back of his neck.

"Don't worry about it."

"Thanks," Jean grinned. His eyes flicked downwards briefly. "Aren't you supposed to be wearing a costume?"

I rolled my eyes into what felt like the next dimension. I was wearing what was labeled at the costume store as a 'sexy nurse'. Which included a cheap push up bra and a shirt barely long enough to cover my stomach, and a short, tight, skirt. My sister gave me a warning look as I left the house.

"Look, I have a favor to ask," I said to change the subject.

A mischievous grin spread across Jean's face, and his facial features perked up. I punched his shoulder. "Not that kind of favor, you idiot! Besides, not sure if your boyfriend would like that very much."

To my surprise, Jean did not refute my statement. "He wouldn't," He said. His eyes then drifted out into space. Realizing he was zoning out, he blinked. "What would the favor be?"

"Question first. Are your parents going to be home?" I asked, following Jean through the living room.

Jean plopped down on the couch, crossing his legs "Nope. Though I do have permission to use the house for the party, so there's no trouble there."

"Do you have, by any chance, a guest bedroom?" I asked him, eyebrow quirked up.

"Uh... Yeah. Why?" Jean answered.

"Just wondering," I said in a sing song voice. "I just that room to myself, you know?"

Jean fixed a drooping piece of hair, and put it back into his mohawk. An understanding look passed his face. "Ymir's the lucky gal, huh?"

I maintained a straight face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do," Jean smirked, getting up from the couch to adjust a Halloween decoration.

"You're right, Jean," I deadpanned. "I do know exactly what _I'm_ doing tonight. Do you?"

Jean's face turned a bright pink, as did his neck. "Ahh… Do you wanna help with the rest of the decorations?"

I gave a slight chuckle. "Sure. What do you need help with?"

"I have this skeleton in my closet." He motioned towards the hallway where I assumed his room was.

"Is that where you live? You know? The closet?"

"Oh for the love of God, Ymir really is wearing off on you!" Jean facepalmed and dragged his hand across his face.

"Where is your room exactly?"

"Down the hall and to the left, right across your treasured guest bedroom," Jean pointed. "I'm gonna mix the punch."

"Alrighty."

His hallway was covered in picture frames of mostly him and his mom. His dad was in some of the pictures, but not the others. I paused to look at one that caught my eye. Jean was a young boy, chubby as hell, sitting on his mother's lap, they were looking at each other, grinning happily. To the right was who I assumed his father. He was in officer's uniform, with a straight, unsmiling. Face. He had rusty blondish-brown hair, just like Jean did. His expression was stern, and he seemed out of place.

Jean must have finished with the punch because he came to my side and joined me at the pictures, reminiscing. His expression turned gentle. I had never seen his face not contorted in a frown.

"That's your dad, right?" I asked him.

Jean nodded. "Yeah. He's a captain in the Navy. Never been around much. But he's still a good dad."

 _A good dad. Now that's something I don't have_. "I'm glad. Sorry for invading your personal space."

"No worries. The pictures are up for a reason."

"I'll go get that skeleton," I said and walked into his room. His walls were covered with posters of Adam Lambert, Wolverine, and Megan Fox. His bed was messy, though the rest of his room was not. I half-expected clothing to be strewn about senselessly around his bed. I opened up his closet, and a skeleton lunged towards me. It fell straight on top of me, and I fell down with it, a squeak escaping my lips

The skeleton seemed to be grinning at the accident. With the skeleton draped over my shoulders, bones clanking together, I left Jean's room and shut the door behind me. I went to go investigate the guest bedroom. The door handle was cold to the touch, and it rattled when I finally opened it. I checked the door handle on the other side. Pleased at seeing there was a lock on it, I glanced over at the bed.

It was a queen sized masterpiece. I bit my lip, thinking about what was going to happen in a few hours.

* * *

When Connie kicked the door open, DJ equipment in hand, the rest of the cadets, though there weren't a lot of them there, gave excited hoots and hollers. He came through the door holding massive speakers and wearing a sailor uniform, with the sleeves ripped off. After him came Sasha, wearing a typical witch costume, holding computer cords and a laptop, along with a stand. They started setting up the music shortly after arriving.

Then the music started pounding, bass thick and heavy, just the way I liked it.

"Yo Jean!" Reiner yelled over the music. He adorned a tight as hell reindeer outfit, equipped with reindeer antlers.

"What's up man?" Jean responded just as loudly.

"Where's the booze?! I'm dying over here! It's almost midnight and I'm dry as hell!"

"Yeah!" A few of the cadets inside the kitchen agreed as more people walked through the door.

Jean cringed at the discourse. "Sorry! Ymir said she'd bring it but she isn't here yet."

At that precise moment, there was a loud pounding on the door. I rushed to open the door. There stood Ymir, holding a crate full of assorted booze. She shot me a grinning smirk, and stepped through the doorway.

"Party's here, fuckers!" Ymir howled. I looked her over, trying to ignore the hot flash that went through my body. She was dressed up as a frat boy. Her shorts were baggy, and hung loose around her hips. Her shirt barely concealed her rippling muscles. She wore a snapback, and for once, her hair was down to her shoulders. I even found her belt sexy as hell. _I want her..._

The rest of the party erupted into cheers. She kicked off her massive combat boots, the only accessory that didn't match her frat boy outfit. She marched into the kitchen and began to pull out two massive bottles of vodka, a jug of rum, a bottle of gin, and a smaller container of whiskey, from the crate she brought in. Promptly after emptying its contents, she discarded the crate.

She turned to look at me. She was so tall…

"Hey," She winked. "How's it going?"

"It's going…" I smiled at her.

The way she looked at me… it made me think she was going to devour me where I stood, right in the kitchen. She advanced towards me, like a predator does prey. Oh, little did she know she was going to be the prey tonight. Her body pressed up against mine, and she looked down on me, golden eyes wolfish as ever. Her abdomen was radiating heat. Her hand moved to cup my back, resting just centimeters from my ass.

"You look nice," is all she said.

My eyes roamed her exposed and beautifully tan collarbone. I wanted to do nothing more than clamp down on them. Mark her. Make her mine. Instead, I opted only to dragged my fingertips across her tan skin. "Thanks. You too."

Ymir shimmied away from me, and grabbed a red plastic cup from the center counter. While someone was spiking the punch with vodka, and the other cadets were fighting over the whiskey, Ymir poured her cup halfway with rum. She added a can of coke to her cup, and brought the drink to her mouth.

I didn't know what to do with myself. I had never been to a party before.

"You look like a lost sheep," Ymir chuckled.

"I assure you, I am not," I retorted. "I know how to navigate a social scene."

Ymir began to laugh like a hyena. "I see," She said, wiping a tear away.

I stomped on her foot, full force. She yelped and stumbled back, sending me a glare. "Alright alright," She said, raising her hands in mock surrender. "You know what you're doing. What can I get you for a drink?"

"What you're having," I shrugged. "I don't drink usually."

Ymir handed me her cup, and its contents splashed across my face. My nose scrunched up. Ymir simply shrugged apologetically and began to pour herself some more. "I don't expect what I brought to last the entire night."

My eyes bulged. "What? How is that even possible?"

Ymir swirled the contents of her cup and looked down on it. "Well. We have some heavy drinkers here. None of us are fat. We're all shredded. That means higher alcohol tolerance. Which means more booze!"

"Wow," I took a sip of the drink. The sweetness of the coke balanced out the harshness of the rum. It kind of burned my throat as I swallowed, though, I kind of liked the burn.

"Just wait till I challenge Connie to a shot off." Ymir grinned , as if she were reminiscing about the past. The music began to a change, and Ymir's face lit up like a star. "Oh shit. I fucking love this song."

"Do you… want to dance?"

Ymir downed the rest of her drink in two massive gulps. "Hell yeah. You might wanna finish that. Just in case."

I did as she told me, not wanting to leave an unattended drink at a party. Though, I really couldn't imagine any of the cadets here doing such a thing. My stomach began to grow warm, really warm, as if there was a small fire building inside my stomach.

There were already a few others dancing in the dining room, that was cleared out completely. The chairs were pushed to the far edge of the room. Connie was in the corner, being the DJ. Sasha was by his side, absentmindedly rubbing Connie's shoulders.

Ymir was bouncing up and down to the music. The latina in her knew how to dance. The other half was definitely from her father. She knew what she was doing with her hips, but her arms, bless her lanky arms, were floating aimlessly about. I was dancing, facing her, just a simple up and down bounce.

Then the beat dropped.

One of her arms wrapped around my waist, and spun me around aggressively. Another hand met my hips and pressed my butt into her crotch. She was grinding on me, her hands were roaming my sides and hips. Her abdomen was rock hard, and I could smell her deoderant up close. It smelt like spice...cinnamon, mixed with typical cologne smell. I pressed my ass down harder into her hips, and she elicited a grunt. A hand brushed my hair to the side and pulled away my shirt. Teeth rushed to meet my skin, and they clamped down hard.

I wasn't sure if I moaned out loud or not. Either way, when the song changed Ymir's hips slowly rolled to a stop, and I was inevitably left wanting more.

"I need another drink," She said as she headed to the kitchen.

I was standing in the middle of the dining room made dance floor, mouth gaping, staring after her. A few shouts came from the kitchen, so, with reluctance, I decided to investigate.

"Ohhhhhh shit!" Jean hooted.

Ymir and Reiner were staring each other down. Reiner's eyebrows were raised, as if egging Ymir to accept a challenge to her alpha-status.

"Alright, gay lord," Ymir started. "I accept. Nobody can out drink me."

"We'll see, freckles," Reiner responded. His spandex suit was really really tight. You could...see everything in it. It left nothing to the imagination. Bertolt seemed to be happy about that, though, at least. He was dressed up as a simple criminal.

"Your drink of choice," Ymir said. "Since you're the challenger."

"Vodka."

"Oh come on!" Ymir groaned. "That's the worst of the four I brought!"

Reiner chuckled, a devious glint in his eyes. "I know, that's why I picked it."

Jean was reaching into the kitchen cupboards to retrieve as many shot glasses as he could.

I crossed my arms, half-amused at the situation, and half-anxious for the shot off to begin.

"Alright. Remember kids, alcohol poisoning is a real thing! I'd rather not take anyone to the hospital tonight," Marco said, popping in out of nowhere. "I'm designated driver for all you guys. So seriously. Be careful."

"Thanks Marco," Ymir beamed. "Always can count on people with freckles."

"Yeah, thanks Marco," Reiner added.

Jean lined up six shot glasses on each side. He mentioned something before that his dad collects them from the different bases he's stationed in and sends them home. He never explained why his dad sent back shot glasses, though. Jean began to pour the clear liquid into the glasses.

"No more drinks after this," warned Marco. "Promise?"

"Promise," The two muttered at the same time. Both had their game faces on.

"You know the rules," Jean said. "Quickest one to finish wins. If you puke, you're out. And you're cleaning that shit up."

"Three… two… one… go!"

Ymir practically inhaled the first shot. Reiner was not far behind. I bit my lip, watching how focused Ymir was. She…

Another went down. And then another. She started to cough then, while Reiner charged ahead to his fourth shot. Then he started to cough. Ymir took a fourth one and staggered. They took the fifth one at the same time. Reiner's face was bright red.

Ymir pulled ahead and finished the last shot. By the time the competition ended, there was quite the crowd surrounding the kitchen table. Everybody cheered, but, following the cheer were some groans. And there was the exchanging of money.

I couldn't believe people made bets on these kinds of things.

Ymir belched and stood up, flexing. I swore her shirt was going to tear open.

Ymir was starting to giggle. Giggle? Oh yes, she was giggling. I looked her over in shock.

"Nobody beats the champ!" She grumbled.

"I underestimated you," Reiner chuckled as he wiped his chin.

"Just give it twenty minutes. I'll be loopy as ever-loving fuck," Ymir responded.

I came up behind her, and wrapped my arms around her waist. "Can you make me another drink?"

"Hell yeah, I'll get you as drunk as I'll be!" Ymir grinned. She shuffled to the center counter once more to grab a new red cup. Inside she poured a small portion of vodka, rum, gin, and then whiskey. The contents reached nearly halfway of the cup.

"We call these suicides. You don't gotta drink it plain if you don't want to," Ymir said.

It sounded awful. "No it's okay I can drink it."

When I took a sip of it, it tasted like sand in my mouth. I drank it anyways. I guess this was the peer pressure they warned you about in elementary school. I downed the drink, and Ymir watched me, impressed.

"Wanna go back to dancing?" She asked.

"Sure."

Ten minutes into dancing I could start to feel the effects of the alcohol. My mind was starting to spin. I was starting to go crazy with lust. Just being next to Ymir was enough to set my entire body on fire. Oh _god_ I wanted her. Her inside of me? Yes.

I tugged on Ymir's sleeve, whose speech was already starting to slur. She didn't protest as she followed me into the guest bedroom. Her hands grazed my ass as we walked into the bedroom. To my relief, nobody else was using it.

I spun around and promptly locked the door. There was no way I was letting some fucker come in and spoil the moment.

Ymir's shirt was unbuttoned so that I could see the edge of her sports bra. She was sitting on the foot of the bed, propped up only using her elbows. My eyes locked onto her collarbone.

I clambered on top of her, and my lips crashed onto her collarbone. Her elbows came out from underneath her and we both fell on the bed. I kissed her skin and she let out a groan that only grew louder when I bit down hard on her skin, and pulled. She tasted vaguely like salt and cinnamon. Her hips bucked up while her hands squeezed down on my waist.

"Uh," Ymir grunted. "Were you uh… planning this?"

Instead of answering, I began to unbutton her shirt. I pulled her by the collar so she was sitting back up, and took off her shirt completely. My hands were trembling as my eyes drank in her body. Her shoulders were broad, her collarbone popped, her abs seemed to be made out of tan stone. She appeared to be made out of gold. Her v-line was exposed and I dipped down and licked her hips. My mind was spinning. I wanted to kiss... lick… bite… everywhere.

Ymir's giant paw-like hands flipped me over on the bed. Her eyes were glazed over. Her fingers were fumbling with my shirt.

"How do you get this fucking thing off?" Ymir grumbled. Her hands were shaking too.

"Just lift it over my head," I murmured.

She did as I said and gaped at my shirtlessness. Her hands cupped my breasts and she squeezed down far too tight.

I let out a squeak. "Holy shit Ymir I'm not a fuck doll!"

Ymir's face flushed. "S-sorry," She slurred.

Her hands retracted and instead rested on my lips. I blinked, and then her lips were all over me. Pushing, prodding, _so good. Want more._

Her tongue slipped into my mouth and her hand went up my skirt. When the tips of her fingers reached the edge of my underwear, I cried out.

"Fuck! Ymir!" I sighed as she added pressure. She did not move to take off my underwear. _Take them off!_

My eyes were squeezed shut. When the warmth of her hand disappeared from in between my legs, they flew open. Her hands were on my breasts again. They fumbled to unhook the sleazy push up bra. When my bra came off, she gasped.

"You are a f-fuckin' angel...damn…" Ymir whispered, and ran her thumb over my bare nipples. Her face assaulted mine once more, our teeth clicked together almost painfully, but we kept going. Her breath smelt like vodka, and it was hot on my cheeks. She bit my lower lip and pulled.

The action drove me insane. I lunged upwards and pushed Ymir down on the bed, and she bounced slightly upward. My fingers trailed across the hard lines of her stomach. I dragged my nails down on her skin. Goosebumps rose up wherever my fingers went. The sound of her throat was guttural. I tugged at her sports bra and she lifted her arms.

Ymir was relatively flat, but I found that extremely sexy. Her nipples were erect, and she was shivering, yet still radiating heat at the same time. She was a living contradiction. I lowered my hands onto her chest and rubbed them gently. Ymir bit her lip and let out a low hiss.

I kissed her breasts, licked them, sucked on them. My lips and tongue trailed down her body, down in between her ribs, down her stomach, her navel, and I rested just above the line of her underwear. I looped my fingers around her skin tight boyshorts, and began to pull down. I could just barely see the beginnings of her short, coarse hair. I licked my lips and attempted to remove her shorts altogether.

That's when her legs snapped shut, denying me my rightful place between her legs, and she scrambled upwards on the bed. Ymir's back thudded against the headboard. Her face was a deep red, but she seemed to have sobered up. She didn't move to cover her heaving chest.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. My ears were beginning to ring.

"N-nothing," Ymir stammered, stumbling over her own words. "It's just that…"

"Was it something I did?" I asked, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

"It's not that I don't want to," Ymir slurred. "I just… drunk? We're drunk."

"So?"

A frown formed on her face. "I don't want to be drunk when I fuck you."

 _She does want to fuck me!_ A wave of relief hit me. "But… why not?"

"Because! I want to remember it. I want to be in my right mind. I want _you_ to be in your right mind…" She trailed off.

I blinked once, and covered my chest. "Okay… I just thought it… would be easier this way."

"We can keep making out…" Ymir smirked as she pulled away my arm. "I just don't wanna... ya know."

I tried to fight back my disappointment.

"I'd also like to know the _real_ you, ya know?" Ymir said. "Like… date you."

 _The real me? The real me? What? She wouldn't love or wanna have sex with the real me. She would discard me like a broken doll. That's what I am. Broken doll. Fake doll. Not even here. Have to fuck to feel something!_

"Wait, wait, wait, why are you crying?" Ymir asked. She scrambled towards me, and her long arms wrapped around me. "What's wrong?"

"Must be the booze getting to me, hah," I lied. I didn't even realize I was crying. The tears just rolled down my cheeks, hot and wet.

She didn't look like she believed me. I wouldn't believe me, either.

"Okay," She hummed. "Do you want to stop?"

Her embrace was something I had never really felt before. Something that was utterly foreign to me. Never in my life had I cuddled someone. Not even once. Not even my sister. She knew I didn't want to. But something was keeping me next to her. Oh god, I felt safe. Nobody could hurt me. Her arms were strong. Sturdy.

"C-can...we cuddle maybe instead?" The question sounded stupid out loud. Of course she was going to say no. She wasn't even the cuddling type! She didn't actually like me! She just…

"Yes," Ymir said. "I… I would love that."

 _Oh…_


	18. Chapter 18: Eren

**Chapter 18: Eren**

 **Monday, November 2nd, 2015**

"Dad, you can't go!" My fists clenched at my sides. My temper was running unchecked, wild as a mustang.

"I did not chose this to upset you, Eren." My dad responded, calm as ever. His long hair was pushed back, well-combed. Perfect. Not a strand out of place. He removed his glasses to clean them, a nervous habit.

Spite sprung up in my chest, abundant and hot. "Well you sure as hell didn't pick it to make me happy! Mom needs you. We need you here."

"Watch your mouth," My dad warned. His voice was low, dangerous. "You are acting like a child, and you know it."

"And you're being a deadbeat dad," I hissed back. My hands gripped onto the edges of my backpack.

The hurt in my dad's eyes could not be masked no matter how hard he tried. "Do you think I am abandoning you?"

With a clenched jaw, I looked away. It was throbbing, I had been clenching the entire night.

"Eren," He said, voice gentle.

I tore my eyes off of my boots and forced myself to look at him. "What is it?"

"I will be back in a month," My dad said.

"And who knows what can happen in a month," I retorted with crossed arms.

I could feel my relationship with my father dissolving quickly. It felt like betrayal. The worst kind of betrayal. I just... why in the hell would he go to Europe at this time of history? Too much shit was happening over there. Especially with the TITAN Syndicate. And Dad was one of the best doctors in the country. The United States needed him, too. He couldn't just waltz out of our house, and go into Europe. Fuck that.

Mom was sensitive. She needed dad, he was steady, a rock of sorts. He balanced her out because sometimes she really got on my case and I didn't like it because I felt like I was being targeted. She did not exactly approve of my or Mikasa's career choice because it would involve fighting the TITAN threat. But why was she okay with dad just bolting to Europe?

My dad remained silent. I resisted the urge to verbally whip him into submission. Mikasa walked down the stairs and her dark brown eyes were sad. My anger towards my father dissipated and I walked up the stairs to meet her halfway.

"What's wrong?" I asked her quietly.

She shook her head. "I can't believe Grisha is leaving at a time like this. Doesn't he know it's dangerous?"

And just like that, the anger was back again. "What does mom think of this, huh?" I spat out.

"She..." He trailed off.

I glanced at the time. It was almost time to head for the bus top. My jaw throbbed, sending a wave of pain through my head. "I see how it is. Well, just know you're responsible for how mom reacts to this. That is on your hands. Let's go, Mikasa."

"Eren," My dad said gently. "My duty as a doctor says I must save all life. I cannot discriminate. And there is a disease rolling through Europe. I have to go help."

"I don't give a fuck, they are so many other doctors in the U.S that could go. But no, you have to play the hero. And I know you're lying to me. You won't be gone for just a month. Otherwise mom wouldn't still be upstairs crying. You're probably going to be gone a year. And I hate you for that," I hissed as I opened the door and walked out.

Mikasa shut the door behind me. "Eren..."

"Yeah?"

"He's trying his best."

"His best isn't good enough, then."

Mikasa did not respond after that. She was quiet, pensive. Before we reached the bus stop, her hand skimmed over mine. I thought it had been an accident, but then her hand engulfed my wrist. She tugged me towards her into a brief hug.

"I don't like him leaving, either. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." I remembered how, before we moved to Washington, one of our old neighbours were murdered. Right in front of Mikasa's eyes. She managed to survive by escaping her house and running into ours. Mikasa didn't like abandonment. "I know you don't," I added, a little more gently.

"You're going to be in a bad mood all day over this," Mikasa stated.

"Pretty much," I grunted. "Let's just hope Levi doesn't try to eat my ass today."

* * *

"What do you mean we are having a mandatory two week trip to Alaska in less than a month?" I almost shouted at Levi. This was some fuckery! The one time I'm captain of the football team...

Levi's grip around the dry erase marker tightened. "Cadet Jager. Sit your ass down before I make you."

"You do realize that's gonna completely fu-... ruin our football season!" I told him.

"Do you seriously think I was the one to coordinate the trip?" Levi asked, his eyes narrowing. "Use your tiny brain, Jaeger. I would not purposely put the trip towards the end of the football state championships."

"Okay this is some B.S., Levi," Reiner added in. Relief hit me like a wave, I was not alone in this matter. "Why would they announce this trip now? Why not at the beginning of the year?"

"Exactly!" I interjected, fists clenched. "This is some load of crap. We need that time! Football state champs are the week we leave!"

"What makes you think you'll even make it that far, Jeager?" Levi asked, suddenly dangerously quiet.

"Because we have a great team this year," I said. "This would be the first chance Maria has to win!"

"Not to mention our quarterback is the shit," Reiner added. His thin, blonde, eyebrows were furrowed.

I grinned at him, I knew he was a good guy to trust and to have my back. "Thanks Reiner."

"Enough!" Levi raised his voice. "I did not create this trip. You may speak to Commander Erwin if you have any issues."

"I bet you waited until last minute to tell us about this trip..." I muttured under my breath.

"Eren. Jeager." Levi spat. The vein in his temple was throbbing. "Why don't you go talk to him now? In his office? I am sure he would enjoy the company."

"This is some bullshit," I said. "And you know it. Why are they shipping us out?"

"That is classified," Levi grunted. "And even if it weren't, I wouldn't tell a brat like you. Now get to Erwin's office. Double time."

The urge to throw a desk at his head was almost too much to pass up. By some miracle, I did not commit third degree murder in that classroom. Of course he wouldn't send Reiner to the office with me. _Bullshit._ Instead, I stomped down the hallway. Soon, a hand was around my bicep. I turned to see who it was, and was calmed immediately.

"Oh. Sorry you had to see that," I said, a little ashamed, scratching the side of my jaw.

"Eren, you have to keep that anger in check," Mikasa warned.

"Hah, you sound like mom when you use that tone of voice," I chuckled.

"I'm being serious, Eren," She continued. "You cannot disrespect your superiors. It will get you into trouble."

Tears stung at the corners of my eyes, and I furiously blinked the unwanted sign of weakness away. "Sorry. Just... With dad. And shit. And I can't believe they're making us go!"

"It's for training purposes. It's only a year and three-quarters until we're commissioned, Eren. They have to make sure we're ready."

I groaned, and rubbed my eyes. "I guess. I just... The football team. We'll lose without the cadets.'

"Eren," Mikasa said, in /that/ tone of voice. "The other schools are taking the same trip, too. Just to different locations."

"How do you know this?"

"It does not make sense to only send one unit of cadets on a training trip. I would assume that the entire nation's cadets will be taking a trip somewhere in the wilderness."

"Oh."

"Now head to Erwin's office, and try not to get yourself into more trouble."

"Thanks, Mikasa."

"Please don't make this harder for yourself," Mikasa begged. "You know you are lashing out in anger because of Grisha. Do not let that anger consume you..."

"Okay..." I trailed off. The way she was talking to me, it was making me feel weak. It was like she was speaking right into my soul, my heart. It was disorienting... "I'll try."

She turned back into the classroom, and I watched her go in. It was hard not to love her. She was always looking out for me, even though I sure as hell could handle myself. But still, it was nice. Something I never received from any other girl ever. Nobody wanted to date me, anyways. I was too focused, too passionate, and that tended to scare off any potential dates. I didn't really care, because none of them were her. None of them were my best friend. None of them looked out for me like she did.

My throat bobbed up and down and I began the trek to Erwin's office, my home away from home. I walked into the office and passed the front desk and the nurse's office. Petra's head popped outside of her room.

"In trouble again, Jaeger?" Petra asked.

My face started to flush. "Yeah."

"Let me guess..." She mused playfully. "You disrespected Levi?" She put little air quotes around 'disrespected'.

"Yeah," I grumbled.

"Listen, I know this doesn't mean much coming from me. But I know Levi, and he gets after you because he knows you can be the best if you put your mind to it."

"He could start acting like it, or something," I grumbled. "Like today, Reiner defended me. But who is the only one getting sent to the office? Me."

Petra gave a sigh. "He does target you, I know that, and I know you know that. And that must feel awful. But hold in there, okay? He is trying to make you realize your potential. Or at least, that's what he tells me."

"You two talk a lot, then?" I asked.

Petra's cheeks turned the same color as her hair. "You are in no position to ask that sort of question."

"Hah. Sorry. But thanks for trying to make me feel better."

"Go on in to Erwin's office. I'm sure he's expecting you," Petra said.

I shrugged, a sheepish expression on my face. "Probably."

My knuckles rapped against the door to Erwin's office.

"Come in."

With shaking hands, I opened the door to his office. Going to see Erwin always threw me for a loop. This man had seen some combat, some shit, and from what I had heard, he was damn good at leading troops and fighting. Yet he chose to oversee us instead of being deployed.

"I suppose I should not be surprised to see you, Cadet Jaeger."

My head bowed in shame. "I'm sorry, sir."

Commander Erwin was like... Captain America or some shit. He looked just like him, and he had that all-American pride. He radiated patriotism. His mere presence commanded respect. I wanted to be just like him. He was exactly what the American military needed. He was what every officer, what every soldier, strived to be.

"Have a seat," Erwin motioned towards one of his stained wood and leather chairs.

I did as I was told.

"Now, what brings you in here today?" Erwin asked. His voice was low, tired. I felt bad for wasting his time. I'm sure he had other stuff today.

"Sir, it was... This trip to Alaska. It's going to ruin a lot of things for me. Football... and I won't be able to see my mom... and my dad's already leaving for god knows how long, and she'll be all alone, you know? And that's never good for her... she..." The words were tumbling out of my mouth.

Erwin seemed taken aback from the honesty of my words. I usually gave him one-word answers and half-assed apologies.

"I see." Erwin said, scratching the scruff on his chin. "Is there anything I can do to help? I was the one that planned this trip for all three districts."

"If you could make my dad stay, that would be great," I grumbled.

"I am sorry this trip is inconveniencing you," Erwin said. His apology seemed genuine, so I accepted it. "You all think I am the boss around here. But I'm not, I have superiors inside the U.S. Army."

"That makes sense, everybody has a boss."

"Exactly. And because of the recent attacks in Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey, they have decided to train you more vigorously."

"I understand, I guess. It's hard," I sighed, pushing my hair back.

"It is. But this is what we signed up for," Erwin responded, as sure as ever.

"You're right. We chose this."

"Indeed we did. Now we must make the most of our decision."

* * *

 ** _A/N: Sorry I'm late! But school is out! That means more writing for you guys! :D Cheers, ~Chemistry God_**


	19. Chapter 19: Ymir

**Chapter 19: Ymir**

 **Friday, November 6th, 2015**

"So you're expecting me to believe that you're just here coincidently?" I grinned at Krista.

"Yes," Krista responded, a blonde eyebrow raised up high. She had a strange, calm, mask on her today. I wonder why she had changed.

The hair binder I had been using to tie up my hair snapped. With a small smirk, Krista handed me her own spare binder.

"Thanks," I grunted and resumed putting my hair up into a ponytail. "So you're not here for the basketball tryouts?"

Her blue eyes almost rolled to the back of her head. "Don't flatter yourself…"

A loud and rough chuckle came out of my mouth. "Don't lie to me. You wanna see me in action, don't you?"

"Does your ego know no bounds?" Krista responded, trying to hide the obvious pink tint of her cheeks.

I paused a moment, giving her a mocking gesture that was supposed to resemble me thinking. "Actually, no, it doesn't. I'll see you on the sidelines. It's almost time."

"What do you know?" Krista stammered, her fists balled up at her sides. "I could be here for... Mikasa!"

We both made eye contact with each other. And at the same time, we bursted out laughing. Laughter seemed to grip my insides, and Krista seemed to not be faring any better.

"I think Annie would kill you," I chuckled, wiping a rogue tear away.

Krista shrugged. "She could try."

"Dammmnnn!" I hooted, and gave a little jump. I swear, basketball was making me giddy like a schoolgirl. "Shrimp has some balls!"

Krista kicked my shin and pointed towards the direction of the basketball court.

"I'm going, I'm going!" I protested and hobbled around to the gym.

The team seemed to be pretty good this year, but the Cadet turnout was not as good as I hoped it would be. Whenever we had more of those damned regulars, the worse we were off the entire season. My teeth bit the inside of my cheek. Where was everyone else?

Sasha, Mikasa, and I were definitely the best players in the entire school. I was not much of a bragger, but I was a basketball god. Or at least, something like a god. Basketball was my shit, and probably the only sport I would ever play.

Annie was too damn short to play, and too damn stubborn to play any position but offense, and Krista... The mere thought of her playing basketball was laughable. She would get stepped on, and probably squashed by the practical titans who played the game. I could see her playing in a defensive position. She could get into places others could not, because she was so small.

Mike was our coach, and I loved the guy, in all honesty. He was like the cool uncle at family reunions, the type of guy who wouldn't pry into your personal life too much but always had fucking killer stories to tell.

He was stern, but he still let us have our fun. Nobody liked a stick in the mud. I was also happy that Mr. Prick Levi wasn't our coach.

"Alright, ladies," Mike said, scanning the group of possible varsity and junior varsity players. "Let's get started."

Sasha and Mikasa exchanged a discreet high-five, or rather, a low-five. Sasha and I gave each other a light hip bump. Mikasa and I brushed shoulders. Us three had been in it together since freshman year. We were the dream team. With my height, Mikasa's strength, and Sasha's resilience, we made a formidable team. Mike always put us together because he knew, just as well as we did, that we were indestructible.

My new kicks were so damn comfortable and cool looking. And they were so ready to be used. They were neon green with metallic blue highlights, the colors of Maria High taken to a whole new level. Dad had gotten them for me out of the blue. I think he remembered that I was playing basketball this year. I really appreciated the gesture. The shoes were fucking badass. Plus, they were Nike, the best of the best.

"I want to split you up into two teams," Mike said after thinking for a moment, and not before scratching at his scraggly goatee. "I'll divide you up. Those of you who have had me before know I don't like doing drills. I want to see you all in action. We'll work on sharpening your skills later, I want to see raw talent."

Mikasa and Sasha were put on the same team, while I was put on the other team where there was hardly any other cadets. It seemed like I would have to carry the entire team to victory. I did not have any doubt I could. I was a damn beast.

Mike stood in the middle of the court, basketball in hand. Mikasa took the other side of the court. I was facing her, muscles tensed, primed, and ready to go. Mike threw the ball up into the air. I sprung up, following the trajectory of the ball, and successfully lobbed the ball away from Mikasa, who was only inches away from the ball herself. She was by far and away, the biggest threat on that team. Having her with Sasha only made matters worse.

I passed the ball to one of the regulars, and she dribbled right down the court. With burning legs, I charged after her, ready to set up a play. I lept past one of the defense members and the ball was passed to me. The very essence of shooting stars seemed to consume my entire entity. I flew through the air like a comet, and I touched the rim.

 _I touched the rim!?_ The ball crashed through the net, and I fell to the ground with the ball. When I landed, my teammates were really quiet. No woman on the high school basketball team had ever slammed dunk a ball before.

Coach Mike looked impressed. "Nicely done, Ymir. Keep it up and let's see if you can keep doing this the rest of the season."

* * *

"Since it's November, and I can finally afford a car… I'm thinking about getting one," I told Krista as I toweled my damp hair off.

Her eyes were nowhere near my face. They were glued to my abdomen, as I had not put on a shirt yet. I bit my lip and tried to ignore how my body still burned from Halloween. It wasn't that I didn't wanna bang her… I just couldn't bring myself to do it drunk. To treat her as if she was an object.

She deserved so much more than that.

"Oh?" Was all she said. She was not being discreet in the least.

Ignoring her obvious advancements was harder than expected. "Yeah, thinking about an oldsmobile, or something like that."

"I somehow knew you were into trashy cars," Krista giggled as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her bangs nowadays were always in her face. She was trying to hide. But I didn't understand what from.

I slipped into some sweatpants and a jogging sweatshirt. "I wouldn't say they're trashy…"

"Are we alone?" Asked Krista. She was scanning the vast locker rooms.

"Uh, I think so, yeah.. I'm only still here 'cause you are."

Krista's tongue flicked over her lower lip. "I knew that."

"So ah... am I giving you a ride home or not? We didn't really talk about it..." I said, starting to stammer. It was hard having her look at me like I was the meal. Usually I was the one to do it! She wasn't in control. I was.

Right?

"If you could give me a ride home that would be great, actually. Frieda isn't home until really late."

"Again?" I asked. "She's been doing more late night shifts, huh?"

"Yeah," Krista said. "It stinks. She's sleeping when I go to school, and by the time I would go home on the bus, she's already gone for the hospital."

It was obvious her sister meant a lot to her. I didn't know what to say. What could I say? Sorry? It wasn't my fault her sister was gone.

"I'll get you that ride home, then," I promised.

Krista paced throughout the locker room, and looked under the stalls. "Does Mike come in here?"

"No, he usually leaves pretty much as soon as practice ends."

Krista nodded in acknowledgement. "Congratulations on making the varsity team, by the way," She smiled. "Seeing you... slam dunk was really something else." Her throat bobbed up and down.

I finally understood what she was trying to do. "You're trying to raw me in the locker room!"

Krista rolled her eyes back into her head. "I don't know about raw... but I just... Really want to kiss you."

A rush of excitement surged through my body. My toes curled in my Nike hightops. "The dunk was that good, wasn't it?"

"Oh shut up," Krista sighed and she stood up on the bench and crashed her lips into mine.

My laughter could not be contained. She had to stand up on a bench to reach me! She punched my ribs and sides, continued to kiss me, which was enough to make me quiet. Her tongue was insistent and pushy. Our teeth knocked together multiple times.

My body was reacting... strongly. Fuck. Fuck! Lust rolled into my head. All I wanted to do was pin her up against the lockers and just...

But I couldn't. We'd get caught. And I had promised myself we would start dating before I could have sex with her. If she would even date me, that is.

Her arms locked around my neck, and they found themselves pulling and tugging at my hair, which only made my hips push foward. She broke for air, and we were left panting.

"Damn..." I whistled.

She licked her lips again. Her lower lip was swollen, my eyes narrowed, looking closer. There was a cut on her lower lip. From me.

"Sorry about that," I said a little sheepishly.

Her breaths came in high-pitched noises. "No, it's...it's good."

I kissed her again, cupping her chin and jaw in my hands. My hands engulfed her face that was so, so, so very soft. Angelically soft... I mentally kicked myself. There I was doing it again. I was whipped as shit. She kissed back angrily. Her body kept trembling and her hands clenched into fists in my hair.

I pulled away this time. Something was nagging the back of my head. Something that needed to be addressed. "How long is this going to go on? I don't like being fucked with."

Krista hopped off of the bench. "I don't know. I..."

"You don't have to explain. But I don't want you to be fucking around if you're messing with me. It's just simple decency..." I trailed off.

"Possessive, much?"

"How much would you like it if I were just to fling myself at the nearest available female?" I countered.

The vein in Krista's temple throbbed. "I'd..."

"Exactly. I get that we both aren't the best at relationships. Or commitment. Or anything like that. But like... this is just... exclusive, right?"

"Right." Krista said. "I don't know if I can promise you a relationship."

 _But why do you ask to cuddle when you were going to fuck? Something doesn't make sense! She's...confused, probably. I just wish she would trust me with stuff like this!_

"That's fine," I lied straight to her face. "Let's get you home now."

"Okay." She said nothing else after that.

When we finally left the locker rooms, and into the hallway, Annie, Bert, and Reiner were huddled together. They were speaking in hushed whispers. I couldn't even make out what they were saying. I only knew that they were talking to each other because their lips were moving. Otherwise, hardly any sound escaped their lips. The conversation must have been pretty serious, because not even Reiner was smiling.

What made my hair raise was when we passed them to leave the high school, they started talking louder, much louder. My instincts were on high alert. But I had no reason to suspect any of them! They were my friends. My brothers and sister in battle. Together we would work to make the world a better place. They were probably just talking about something deeply personal.

"Oh yeah, I'm gonna miss my grandma on that Alaska trip," Bert said as we left the building.

I didn't hear the conversation continue through the tinted glass doors.

"Well that wasn't suspicious at all," Krista puffed out.

"I wouldn't go that far…"

"They're hiding something."

 _And how would you know that? You're hiding something too, aren't you?_

"We don't know that for sure. It was probably some family problem stuff they were talking about," I responded.

Krista shook her head. "Maybe…"

* * *

 _ **A/N: I am currently on vacation right now so unfortunately I may not be able to put up another chapter before I return home. Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter. A storm be coming... ~Chemistry God**_


	20. Chapter 20: Krista

**Chapter 20: Krista**

 **Wednesday, November 11th, 2015**

"There have been reports of bombings at an United States Navy base in the Philippines. Officials at the scene do not know who caused the explosions that have left at least thirty dead, and sixty wounded," The news anchor in a red dress said, holding a microphone in her trembling hand.

The news didn't even phase me. I flicked to the next channel, not giving a shit that people died. The next station had the same old story.

"The remaining Navy bases that are in foreign countries are ramping up security measures in the wake of the recent attacks. Other branches of the United States' military are following suit."

I turned the T.V. off. There was no point in watching the news. It was the same old story, every single day. A new tragedy, with no heroes, but countless villains. Nobody was going to do anything about it, anyway.

So, I flipped open my laptop and opened my browser. On my homepage, there was something that actually made my stomach churn.

On the head of the banner of the news article, there was the word breaking news in all capital letters. The article read: "The President's Dirty Little Secret: A Secret Bastard Child?"

My hands started to tremble. It had happened, just like I thought it would. The world was starting to catch on. There was no way we could keep… me… a secret.

Embarrassed rage seeped into all of me, through my fingertips. Dirty little secret, huh? My impulses screamed at me to type up a scathing comment in response to the article.

I thought about how this heavy weight on my chest would feel better if I had just told someone the truth. Someone besides Frieda, of course.

She hardly ever talked about it, though. She knew it was a touchy subject with me, though often times it seemed like she was too scared to talk to me about it.

All I knew was that I received the short end of the stick, and was placed under foster care under the impression I was the woman's true daughter. I didn't understand why she hated me, why my fake mother did. She was paid handsomely to keep her mouth shut, to take care of me.

Remembering her made me sick to my stomach. My ribs, as if they remembered the pain, began to ache like they were once again broken by a metal baseball bat.

I slammed the computer lid down. There was no way I could find refuge in the vast expanses of the internet, now. It fucking sucked. And, it was late at night, or at least early in the morning, and I still couldn't sleep.

My heart was still racing, my forehead practically dripping in sweat. The familiar feeling of self-loathing was returning in waves. I closed my eyes, trying to push out thoughts of twisted metal blades cutting into my skin. I breathed out slowly, trying to expel the feeling from me. As if mere oxygen alone could free me from the taint.

With a groan, I flipped around in my bed, pulling a blanket over my head. I waited for my panic to subside. Tears still poured down my cheeks in hot pools that stung my skin.

"It's not your fault," I told myself out loud.

It helped when it seemed like someone was there actually telling me these things.

"Just keep breathing. You're going to be okay."

That wasn't my voice. I threw the blanket off of my head after almost jumping out of my skin to see my sister standing in the doorway, the lights to the basement illuminating her backside.

"Krista," She said gently, her voice quiet and kind. "What's wrong?" She sat on the bedside, the dark circles under her eyes were particularly deep tonight. A pang of guilt hit me again. She was working to provide for me. I was an unnecessary burden.

My throat constricted, and I knew very well that I wouldn't be able to form a coherent sentence. Instead, I flung myself at my sister, and curled into her, trembling, sweating, and shaking. Her arms wrapped around me as I choked out a strangled sob.

Her hand rubbed up and down my back in an attempt to comfort me. The smell of hospital beds and cherry cough syrup was oddly calming. With a few, deep, shuddering breaths my throat stopped clenching.

"T-the... w-website s-said that they figured out f-father has a b-b-bastard child..."

Frieda stiffened at the words.

"That only spells trouble with father... Goodness. I am so sorry, Krista. You are more than dad's mistakes, okay?"

"...Okay," I barely choked out.

"You may have been... the result of a bad choice on dad's part, but that in no means doesn't mean you are unwanted or unloved, alright?"

Her voice was like a soothing balm over my raw heart. "Thank you, Frieda."

"I can stay as long as you want," She murmured.

She held me in silence until I stopped trembling. It was like I was a little kid again, with the few memories I have of Frieda growing up. She was around, but never like this, but always nurturing.

When she left my room and quietly shut the door behind her, I felt calm. But, I still yearned to talk to someone other than her.

One particular brunette entered my mind. I pulled out my phone and unlocked it.

[Krista Lenz, 4:27 A.M.]: Are you up?

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:30 A.M.]: Unfortunately I am

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:30 A.M.]: Everything alright? You're never up this late

[Krista Lenz, 4:31 A.M.]: Oh, I am... I usually don't text you

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:34 A.M.]: I'll let u know right now, I am great late night company

I giggled at the text... Ymir was such a dork.

[Krista Lenz, 4:35 A.M.]: Sure you are. Could I come over?

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:35 A.M.]: Is this a mother fucking booty call?

[Krista Lenz, 4:36 A.M.]: Oh my fucking god Ymir! No!

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:36 A.M.]: Okay good, because I know for certain I would not be capable of any sort of sex thing... right now.

[Krista Lenz, 4:37 A.M.]: What? Are you okay?

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:40 A.M.] No

[Krista Lenz, 4:41 A.M.]: What's wrong?

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:42 A.M.]: I finished playing mass effect 3 ._.

[Krista Lenz, 4:42 A.M.]: You're kidding me, right?'

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:43 A.M.]: I would not joke about something this serious and depressing

[Krista Lenz, 4:43 A.M.]: ...I see

[Krista Lenz, 4:44 A.M.]: On the other hand… I think I am going to go to bed. Thanks for the talk.

[Ymir Peterbridge, 4:44 A.M.]: Goodnight, shrimp.

When my head hit the pillow, I was calm and fell asleep as soon as my eyes shut.

* * *

The next time my eyes opened, which was about three hours later, it was like prying a glued up seal open. I felt like a living, breathing, slug. I trudged out of bed, and practically zombie-walked up the stairs to the coffee maker.

My stomach grumbled, and it had aching pangs from before. Whenever I stayed up late like that, it completely messed my stomach up. It felt like there was metal screws bouncing around down there. Though, I knew I needed to eat something. I grabbed a banana and apple pastry from the small pantry, and put the food haphazardly into my mouth and stepped out the front door, not even bothering to bring my backpack.

When Ymir and I met on the street she looked me over.

"You don't look so great," She commented.

"Neither do you," I responded. It was the truth. She looked half-dead.

"Touche, missy."

We laughed for a bit, then fell silent as we trudged to the bus stop.

"Why were you up so late?" Ymir asked. "Not that I care, or anything."

"Sure you don't. I was up cause I was having some trouble sleeping."

It wasn't exactly a lie. Not the truth, either.

"Just come over next time, alright? I don't mind. Dad sleeps like a log, anyway. And Shepard likes you good enough."

"Ymir, I didn't know what I was thinking last night. It was too damn late."

Ymir stepped in front of me and put both of her hands on my shoulders, almost gripping them painfully. Her gaze grew deadly serious, and her eyebrows pulled together.

"It is not too late. Ever. So. Stop being stupid and just come over next time."

* * *

With a groan, I opened the door to my house. I barely made it through the school day. The music was playing into my earbuds at almost full blast. It was so loud because I couldn't stand the silence of the house.

Even at my fake mother's house, there was noise. Always. Whether it was her snooty friends who ignored my existence, or drunk men who came for an easy screw, the old house was loud.

I shuffled over to the couch, flopped over, and passed out face first into the stuffy cushions.

What seemed moments later, I was woken up by a clap of thunder. My heart jumped into my throat. There was no weather I hated more than thunderstorms. They were loud, unpredictable, and anything but soothing. The lightning reminded me of when pain manifested itself into yellow streaks in my mind's eye... When I was about to die. Another boom of thunder shook the house, and my need for companionship increased tenfold. Seconds after, rain began to fall.

 _It's god damned November! Too late in the year for this shit! Where is the damn snow?_

The clock on the microwave read midnight. I couldn't believe I slept for that long. I felt better, despite being scared out of my skin, well rested for the first time in a few weeks.

It was too late to order pizza and there was hardly any leftovers in the fridge. Coupled with the extreme desire _not_ to make any food, it seemed like I was going to starve.

I picked up my phone and clicked into Ymir's contact and pressed the call button. After the first ring, she answered the phone.

"What's up?" She said, chewing something obnoxiously in her mouth.

"What are you eating?" I asked.

"Leftover chinese food…?" I could hear the judgement seeping through the phone.

My eyes rolled back into my head. "Don't give me that tone of voice!"

"Okay _mom_ ," Ymir replied snarkily.

"Listen here, I'm starving. There's no food in this house."

"Are you using me for my food?"

"Yes I am," I responded matter-of-factly. "And besides," I added on. "You said I could come over."

Ymir gave a chuckle. "I suppose I'm eating my own words right now… huh? Well, come over if you want. Dad's already asleep in his room."

"Okay."

The phone beeped twice, letting me know that Ymir hung up on me. From the closet in the living room, I pulled out a heavy coat that must be Frieda's, because it certainly wasn't mine, and I sure as hell didn't want to go looking for mine. It was all the way in the basement.

The hood had fur lining on the edge of it, it smelled like Frieda, too.

It wasn't often that I was thankful Ymir was my neighbor, but I found myself appreciating that fact more and more. I was happy she was close, especially at a time like this. When I reached her house, wet from the rain, I gently rapped my knuckles against the door that had peeling paint.

Ymir opened the door slowly and silently, looking down at her dog to keep him quiet. He didn't even bark as I entered the house. Ymir motioned to the dining room where a plate sat, full of Chinese food and an empty cup for me to fill with whatever I wanted. A faint blush tinted my cheeks.

I went up on my tippy toes and gave Ymir a peck on the cheek. "Thanks."

* * *

 _ **A/N: I am back from vacation! Thank you all for being patient. Enjoy the chapter. ~Chemistry God**_


	21. Chapter 21: Annie

**Chapter 21: Annie**

 **Friday, November 13th, 2015**

"So… guys… there is something we'd like to tell you," Jean stammered as he glanced at Marco nervously.

"We know your asses are gay," Ymir deadpanned and flopped down on the bleachers, spilling her popcorn all over like the savage she was.

"Bi, I'm bi. Not gay," Jean said, putting a hand on his hip. "He's gay." He motioned towards Marco.

I offered my hand in a high five. "Me too. Bi squad. Guess that means you're not that awful… I suppose." He took the high five a little too hard, and I had shook my hand out from the stinging pain.

Jean cleared his throat. I narrowed my eyes, looking over his neck. There was a massive hickey barely covered up by the collar of his shirt on the right side of his neck. "But. We are dating." _That wasn't a huge mystery, now was it?_ I thought to myself.

"Called it," Ymir boasted as she put a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

"Don't say that like you were the only one who thought it," Krista rolled her eyes. "Everybody knew."

Connie bursted out laughing. "Roasted by the gal pal."

"Shut up, coconut head," Ymir grumbled as she ignored the blatant blush on her face.

Eren sat down next to Ymir and Armin followed him. They looked at each other and started whispering while glancing over at Marco and Jean. Connie sat on Ymir's other side and Sasha sat next to him. Connie gave Ymir a swift punch to the shoulder, hissing something about him not being a coconut head.

"So I'm guessing Jean is the bottom, right?" Ymir smirked, putting her boots up on the bleacher below her.

"Sweet Jesus that's nasty Ymir," Connie sighed.

"Did you expect anything different from a brute?" Krista laughed.

"Hey! I just want an answer to my question, shrimp!"

"Well, if you must know," Marco began only to be stopped by Jean scrambling to put a hand over Marco's mouth.

"Marco, babe, they _don't_ need to know," Jean urged him.

Marco shot a wink to his group of friends. "Usually I'm the one covering his mouth."

Ymir bursted out laughing, as did just about everyone else. I allowed myself an amused snort as Connie started crying from laughter. Eren was wheezing, and even Armin's mouth was gaping open in surprise.

"Well, ladies, are we just going to gossip here or are we going to play volleyball?" Mikasa walked in, holding a volleyball to her hip.

She looked really good in her spandex shorts and green uniform. The sleeves were cut off so you could see past her arms, so you could see her bra and a little bit of her abs. Win or lose, it didn't matter to me, I just wanted to see her shirt off at her house… when neither of her parents were home.

"I'm ready to play," I said, standing up from the bleachers. Krista followed me towards Mikasa. There was a reason she was captain of the team. This was it. She could just voice her opinion, and others would flock to her cause, which made her very dangerous. She was a leader that could inspire the confidence of her followers with simple words.

We began warm-ups for the volleyball championships. Maria High had been the high school state champions three years running. We were up against Sina High. Though I suspected they were not going to be much of a threat. Their football team may be formidable but their volleyball team was laughable at best.

Krista was the bumper, I set the ball, and Mikasa spiked it across to the other side. We had a rhythm going. Us three worked well together, really well. We were like a well oiled machine, as teams are supposed to be. As all teams I was a part of were.

Before long, the referee called the game into order. Sina High's team looked nervous and unsure. I did not blame them for their anxiety; our record was undefeated almost the entire season, save for one loss against Rose Academy. Sina had a much more rough track record, barely scraping by every tournament round, and during the regular season, was defeated by non-military schools.

It was pathetic, really.

How could you call yourself a warrior when you lost to those who were weak?

Needless to say, I was ready to crush these puny bastards. And I knew my team was ready to do it.

After a coin toss, the ball was given to Sina to serve first. Everybody was in position, the crowd was as silent as a stalked mouse, and I was tensed, ready to pounce. The ball went up into the air, and my eyes tracked it through the air. It was sky-rocketing towards me.

I took a couple of steps back, bent my knees, and called out, "Mine!"

I passed the ball to Mina, who then set it to Mikasa, who then spiked it to the other side.

One of the girls who had bright red hair on the other side, dove forward and saved the ball from hitting the ground. There was a nasty screeching sound of her thigh skin rubbing against the wooden floor of the gymnasium. But up the ball went, and was spiked back to our side. Krista in turn slid across the gym floor, and sent the ball to Hitch, who sent it to me, and I sent it over to the other side, knowing very well I was not tall enough to make a good spike. I couldn't jump all that well, either. The ground was my domain, not the sky.

The ball was spiked over again, but before it could go over to our side of the net, Mikasa jumped high into the air and blocked the ball from coming over, making it bounce at an awkward angle to the other side.

It was our point.

Once we had control of the ball to serve, Sina did not have a chance. Krista was one of our best servers, and she had the ability to send the volleyball to the corners of the court, making it very hard to judge whether or not the ball was going to go out of bounds. Krista preyed on this weakness until Sina High realized what was going on after what seemed a thousand points.

A spike went between Mikasa's blocking arms, and landed straight on the floor, with Hitch and Mina diving towards it, knocking their heads together. After mumbling complaints, they stood up from the gym floor, ready to keep playing.

Sina did not hold the ball for long. We were too damn good. We were born to win, it seemed. Born to win this volleyball tournament for the fourth year in a row. After Krista sent the ball over to the other side, it landed on the edge of the out of bounds line, and the referee called it in bounds. It was our point. Again.

After the first two sets, after we destroyed Sina seven to twenty-five, it was the last set of the game, unless Sina pulled through and became a miracle story, which was not going to happen, they did not have what it took to win, they simply were weak.

The home crowd was going wild with cheers and hollers. Every _fucking_ time Krista made a decent play, I heard Ymir scream 'savage' in the background noise of the Maria High supporters.

At a time out, called by the other team, we all huddled together, panting and sweating, wrapping our wet arms around each other. Mikasa sneaked a glance at me, with those warm brown eyes of her. They were steely with determination, though her gaze seemed to soften when her eyes met mine. My lip twitched upward in response. All I could think about was how I wanted to just… make love? fuck? have sex with? her. I swiped my tongue over my lips absentmindedly, and I didn't even hear what Petra had to say to us.

The referee blew his whistle and the game was called back into action.

* * *

We won. We were champions. We got our pictures taken, given tacky medals, and huddled around a cheap trophy that read 'Washington State High School Champions' with a little gold humanoid spiking a volleyball mid-air.

After the game, we went to the small diner on the outskirts of Olympia we always did, the one that had the best breakfast, the best milkshakes, and was open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three-hundred and sixty five days a year. The owner of the diner, who was behind the counter, did not seemed at all surprised that practically the entire 104th Cadet squadron and even a few regulars showed up to her diner at ten-o-clock.

"My favorite group!" She exclaimed as we walked through the doors.

I took a deep breath in, relishing the smell of hamburgers, milkshakes, and french fries.

Before we came in, the diner was relatively dead. We filled up the small parking lot in a blink of an eye.

Each of the groups sat down at their respective spots. Our group took the biggest booth in the corner of the diner, where we could put chairs on the other side of the booth table.

"Congrats on the win, guys," Marco smiled. He looked like a goddamn puppy all the time. His face made it very hard to hate him.

Krista was grinning ear to ear, and Ymir slung an arm over her petite shoulders. "Thanks," Krista beamed back.

"I have to tell the truth, Sina didn't really stand a chance against you guys," Connie said.

I shook my head. "Nope. They were fucked from the start."

Jean gave an amused snort. Eren gave me a dirty look that he thought I didn't notice. But I did notice, so I inched closer to Mikasa, wrapping her hand in mine. She didn't quite react how I expected, but she didn't pull her hand away, either.

Armin nudged Eren , a disappointed look on his face. Eren realized what he was doing, looking at me like I was evil, and promptly looked away.

"Man, am I hungry!" Sasha said, eyes closed, taking a deep breath in.

We chattered until the waitress, who must have been new because I didn't recognize her, took our orders.

"So guys," Eren began, as he cracked his neck. "Any plans for this weekend?"

"I can't believe I'm out tonight," Sasha replied first. "It's Friday the thirteenth, afterall."

"Don't you think that's bullshit?" Jean asked. "Friday the thirteenth is just made up."

Connie gave Jean an irritated glance. "Don't you think you're horse shit?"

Ymir dragged her palm across her face. "He just asked if we had any weekend plans. But, since none of you nuggets are going to answer the question, I will. I'm staying at home and jacking off, thanks for asking Eren."

I had to admit, she was hilarious. Before I could stop myself, a harsh, bark-like laugh escaped my mouth after the rest of the table had finished laughing.

"Woah there," Jean said. "You alright over there? Are you sick?"

Mikasa gave an exasperated sigh. "She was laughing."

"She's just not used to doing it," Eren smirked as he took a sip out of his soda.

I quirked an eyebrow up. "Neither are you, temper tantrum enthusiast."

Eren tensed up, and I just simply sat next to Mikasa, smug as hell.

"Okayyyy," Krista said, glancing between Eren and I.

"I'm taking this handsome guy out on a date," Marco said, trying to ease the tension at the booth.

"You are?" Jean asked, surprised. It probably hadn't been in Marco's plans to begin with, but since it was awkward as hell at the table, he just searched for something to say.

Marco smiled. "You bet I am."

Our food came a little later, and everybody shoveled their food into their mouths like savages. I didn't have enough money for an entire meal, but I still ordered a few sliders and a small milkshake. The last thing I wanted to be was left out at something like this. To draw attention to the fact that I was dirt poor, and my dad was shit. The less attention drawn to myself, the better. I would be safer that way.

* * *

"Why don't you ever want to hang out at your house?" Mikasa asked me. She was driving Eren's car, because Eren and Armin were spending the night at Connie's house.

"Ah," I said. "Mmm… I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough," Mikasa said. And she dropped it.

I kind of wish she hadn't.

"Where are your parents off to?" I asked, trying to maintain a conversation that was increasingly harder to hold.

"Grisha is out saving the world with medicine," Mikasa sighed. "Carla is out with her girlfriends for the weekend."

"Why don't you call them mom and dad?"

Mikasa kept her eyes on the road, not even glancing over at me when she answered. "When I was little, my parents were murdered in front of me."

A huge, cold, stone, a feeling I had never felt before, hit my stomach. "What?"

"I don't normally talk about it."

"I'm sorry."

What else could one say?

"I was young. Four years old. I barely remember what happened. Only that it _did_ happen."

"Good god," I mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to say sorry, it's not your fault," Mikasa said. There was a deep sadness in her voice. "I love Carla and Grisha. But they could never replace Mom and Dad."

The car went silent, save for the quiet strummings of the classical music Mikasa had playing on the radio. I sighed, reasoning that if Mikasa told me something as personal as this, I should do the same. "I don't like hanging out at my house because my father is a drunk and is living on welfare."

"And your mom?"

I shook my head. "Gone. Don't even know her name or anything about her, except that according to my father, I look a lot like her."

"Does your father… hit… you?"

"He tries, but most of the time he's too drunk to even know what he's doing," I explained. "He always misses."

Mikasa's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"If he hits you, I'll end him."

I gave a soft chuckle. "That won't be-"

"I'm serious."

I looked her over, looked at her messy ponytail, how the strands of her hair were all over the place. "So you are. Thank you."


	22. Chapter 22: Eren

**Chapter 22: Eren**

 **Thursday, November 19th, 2015**

The first of December was supposed to be the best day of my life. December First… was supposed to be the day where I brought the Maria Cadets to victory in football. It was also the day we left to Alaska for the trip. But either way… it wasn't going to happen.

I watched helplessly as Rose Academy kicked a field goal in, edging their score past ours. It was seven to eight, Rose in the lead. There was only ten seconds left in the game.

We didn't even get twenty yards down the field by the time the buzzer rang out, signalling the end of the game.

Disappointment made me feel like I was almost sea sick. My knees gave out from underneath me, and hot tears ran down my face.

The Maria Cadets were eliminated from the State Tournament. We lost. I was the quarterback. The star player. I did nothing. I messed up. I was the reason why we lost. The quarterback was supposed to lead his team to victory. And instead, I brought my team to an early exit, only the first bracket of the tournament.

I swallowed my shame and stood up from the ground, shaking. Connie looked at me sympathetically, and Reiner gave me a tentative pat on the back. The team and I huddled around each other for one last cheer.

"It's okay guys," Jean said, trying to mask his own disappointment. "We always have next year."

"Yeah," Bert nodded. "Next year."

"Let's put our hands in the middle. Cadets on three," I grimaced. The words seemed to punch my throat on their way out of it.

"One, two, three!" My team shouted around me. " Cadets!"

"We'll get them next time," Reiner smiled. "I promise."

I shrugged, not really caring either way. This was the year that was supposed to count.

"Let's go congratulate the other team on advancing in the tournament," Connie suggested.

"Good idea," Bert said, glancing over to Reiner.

My eyes were still blurry from the bitter tears. But I followed my team down the field anyway, jogging towards the other team. We held our hands out to give each other high fives. Or rather, low fives.

"Good game."

"Good game."

"Good game."

 _It wasn't a fucking good game._ I sneered to myself, but kept my trap shut. _What's the point of saying it if you don't mean it? We didn't play good. We were barely scraping by the entire game. Pathetic. That's what I was. I let the fucking team down. God damn it!_

After lying through our teeth, we went through the entrance towards the men's locker room. Coach Mike was in there, waiting for us.

"Alright boys," He said, setting his clipboard down on the bench. "I can't say I'm impressed with today's performance. But I think part of the problem was knowing that even if you did win today, you would have to back out of the tournament due to the trip to Alaska."

There was a mumbling of agreement in the locker room. I stared pointedly at the tile floor.

"I am proud to have coached you guys this season, and I look forward to seeing you juniors back next year. We are going to need you as seniors. Don't let this defeat wear you down. You guys are soldiers, not pussies. You'll bounce back."

"Thanks Coach," I said.

He looked me straight in the eye. He had something to say to me, I knew it. He was going to scold me like a puppy that had pissed all over a clean floor. Scold me for fucking up.

"Once everyone is gone, I'd like a word with you, Jaeger."

I bobbed my head to acknowledge what he said, but my stomach twisted, it didn't want to go to talk to him afterwards. My discarded helmet looked shameful on the ground, as did my crumpled silver, green, and blue uniform. There was nothing more I wanted to do than kick my helmet across the locker room. But my teammates were still taking off their uniforms and changing into sweatpants in relative silence.

One by one, everyone left the locker room until I was the only one remaining. My hands were shoved deep into my pockets and I shuffled over to Coach's office. His door was open, and he was looking at his computer. His eyes moved to look at me, and he then shut off the computer, swiveling his chair from the other side of his desk and towards me.

"Eren," He began. I braced for impact. There was a pause.

"Yes… sir?"

"I can sense your disappointment in yourself," Mike said.

"That obvious, huh?"

"Why did you think the locker room was like a haunted house?" Mike asked. He leaned forward, propping his elbows onto his knees.

"Uh…?"

"You're the captain. You are supposed to be the shining light when there is none, do you understand what I am saying?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

Mike scratched the stubble on his beard. "Listen. This year wasn't meant to be. You couldn't control the trip. But what you could control was your attitude."

My pride took a beating. I didn't want to snap at him. He was… he was trying to help me. Not like Levi. Not like my dad. He wasn't even making me mad.

I slumped my head forward. "You're right."

"And what's worse," Mike continued. "Is that you didn't try to boost morale tonight after the loss."

My foot started tapping on its own.

"This…" He motioned around the room. "Is kind of practice for out _there_. You aren't going to be in charge of the people you are graduating with. They're going to be the same rank as you, you're going to work together. But what I'm getting at here is that… the men and women you _are_ going to be in charge of, they are going to look up to you." He pushed his dirty blond hair back. "They are going to look up to you for guidance. Because you are going to be their leader. Their go-to when things go wrong."

"I understand, sir. I will… I'll try to be better in the future."

"That's all I wanted to talk to you about. Other than tonight, you were a stellar captain. I'm sure you'll earn the spot again next year."

"Thank you…" Tears stung my eyes. "For believing in me, I mean. Believing I'll get better."

A small smile appeared on Mike's face. "Of course son. Now go out there and have some fun."

* * *

I didn't do as he told me to, not because I wanted to spite him, but because I felt unworthy of any sort of celebration. Instead, I just drove home and sat outside on the patio furniture with only my hoodie and sweatpants on.

The cold air nipped at my nose, and I shivered, the heat from the thrill of playing lone gone. There were no clouds in the sky, though, so I looked up to the empty sky. The moon was nowhere to be seen, which meant the stars were a little more bright.

Not that I gave a shit.

The back door slid open and someone stepped out onto the deck. The footsteps were light and carefully placed, so I knew without looking it was Mikasa. I didn't turn around to face her. There was tear stains on my cheeks. She wordlessly came to my side, placing a hand on my shoulder. Her thumb stroked my hoodie.

She pulled up a deck chair, sitting right next to me. Her hand moved to my forearm, and she looked over to me, trying to make a conversation. I kept looking ahead.

"Eren…" She murmured.

I couldn't ignore her any longer, especially when she said my name like _that_.

"Yeah?" I asked, rubbing my face into my sleeve.

"This might be a stupid question, but, are you doing alright?" She looked over me with her brown, almost black eyes. Her breath came out in little cloudy puffs in the cool night air. The only sound I could hear was our breathing, and the blood roaring into my heardrums.

"You're right. That is a stupid question," I muttered, breaking our eye contact.

She seemed hurt by my answer. She stood up to leave. "I'll leave you alone, then," She sighed.

The way she looked seemed to pierce right through my heart. I gritted my teeth, clenched my jaw, and swallowed my pride. "Wait."

"I won't stay around if you're going to just snap at me like a rabid dog," She said, crossing her arms, her chin jutting upwards, a silent defiance.

"I'm sorry," I looked up to her. My best friend… my backup.

She gave me a small smile and sat down next to me again.

"Everything seems to be not going right," I muttered into my hands.

Mikasa frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well! Everything is fucked up, and today was just the cherry on top of a shitty sundae!" I sighed. My foot started to tap against the wood of the deck.

"What's been going on?" Mikasa pressed.

"Well, today I fucked up! I didn't win against Rose when I should have. I let down my teammates, and worst of all, Coach. The world is going to shit. Our President won't do jack shit! Everybody keeps dying. You're not even talking to me anymore, and Dad is gone! So I'm doing just peachy! Thanks for asking!"

Mikasa's eyes widened. "Wait… what?"

"I can't believe Dad left to go do his doctor shit!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air and standing up from the chair.

"No, no," Mikasa shook her head. "That's not what I meant. What do you mean I don't talk to you?"

"Not to sound like a pissbaby five-year-old, but I'm a piss baby so fuck it. You're too busy with Annie to even look in my general direction," The words shot out of my mouth like bullets out of a machine gun gone wild. The shots were fired before I could even put the safety of the gun on.

Mikasa blinked in surprise. "Are you… jealous?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I narrowed my eyes at the thought of Miss Wonderful putting her tongue down Mikasa's throat.

Tears sprung to her eyes. "Eren if I had known…"

"What? You would have kept your relationship with Annie a secret for even longer?" I snapped.

Mikasa's hand clenched up into a fist. "No. You're being unfair."

"Unfair is watching your best friend who means the _world_ to you go fucking some walking, talking, statue!"

"She is not a statue! You don't even _know_ her!" Mikasa was heated now. I had pushed all of her buttons. Not on purpose. But it happened.

"I don't want to know her!" I retorted.

"Why are you being like this?" Mikasa asked. "If you wanted to spend more time together you could have just asked."

I kicked the base of my chair. "Are you dense?" I growled. "I fucking _love_ you!"

She stood up from own chair. She took a fighting stance, maybe on instinct. Her fists were clenched at her own sides.

"Are _you_ dense?" Mikasa shot right back. "Annie actually showed _interest_ in me. You never show how you're feeling. You never knew how I felt! Because _you're_ the dense one, not me. It's not my fault you were too blind to see, too lazy to actually pursue!"

My limbs seemed to be encased in ice. "What?"

"Don't act so surprised!" Mikasa exclaimed. She was starting to cry now, but her voice did not shake. She did not even acknowledge that tears were rolling down her face.

"Eren. You _saved_ me as a kid. How could I not love you? But you never showed romantic interest in anyone, and the only emotion you ever show is anger. How was I supposed to know, Eren? How was I supposed to know? Tell me!"

My ears turned red in embarrassment, and in with the embarrassment, came resentment. "Do you even like girls, Mikasa? Or is this some fluke?"

Mikasa seemed to freeze in her place. "That is none of your business."

There was no way she liked… girls! She never talked about them as a kid, only the occasional male celebrity. There was just no way she was gay, or bi. "You're right. It isn't any of my business. But wanna know whose business it is? Annie's. When are you gonna tell her the truth?"

"Just because I'm dating someone who isn't you doesn't mean my attraction to them is invalid."

"So you admit Annie is the only girl that you like?" I asked.

Mikasa sighed, and closed her eyes to steady herself. "I came outside so I could comfort you, because you are my best friend, and I love you. But right now you are lashing out in jealousy and anger. I can't talk to you right now. Goodbye Eren."

* * *

 _ **A/N: I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter! Remember to review :) More reviews= more readers = more reviews! So please, even if it's just to say something small, please review :) It helps me as an author, and makes the story seem better to potential readers! Have a great day, ~Chemistry God**_


	23. Chapter 23: Ymir

Chapter 23: Ymir

Wednesday, November 24th, 2015

I was honest-to-God happy that we were off of school. My long-forgotten lovers needed some much needed attention. But before I could sit down and play _Mass Effect_ I needed to check my email. A half-empty bag of Doritos were right next to my laptop. I shoved my hand into the bag and retrieved its contents into their rightful place- my mouth.

The home page of Google Chrome on my laptop was this obscure news website. It mostly had conspiracy theories, and general nonsense, but occasionally there was some interesting stuff that turned out to be true. I kept it only because it entertained me, otherwise I would have Reddit as my homepage.

When I double clicked into Google Chrome, the title on the page surprised me. In a big headline, it read _The President's Child and His Secrecy: A Look Into President Reiss' Family Life_. Just below the headline was a giant photograph of what looked to be Frieda.

I scowled at the screen, and for the first time in months, clicked on the link. I pursed my lips and read the article. It definitely Frieda on the screen. There was no mistaking it. She had the same, big, blue, eyes. She had the dark hair. The kind expression. The small beauty mark on the right side of her cheek.

What was the president's daughter doing out here?

 _Washington D.C- November 24, 2015- It is a cloudy day over the White House. The clouds shroud the Oval Office in an air of mystery. Who exactly is our president? And how did his family come to be?_

 _Rod and Missy Reiss were married some thirty years ago, back in 1986, according to their marriage certificate._

 _Records show that Frieda is the oldest living offspring of the President of the United States (POTUS). Frieda was born 26 years ago to Reiss' wife, Missy Reiss. Frieda has a nursing degree from Cornell University, and is working towards her master's degree in the field. Following Frieda is 25-year-old Ulklin, the eldest son of the Reiss dynasty, he is looking to secure a House of Representatives seat. He seems to follow his father's knack for politics, and looks to serve in the Senate when he comes of age. Next comes Dirk, who is 22, and is an Ensign in the Navy, recently commissioned from the United States Naval Academy. Next comes Abel, 20, the middle daughter of the Reiss family, who currently works as an artist from the White House. Her artwork is sold to the highest bidder, and the profits go to a charity of Abel's choice, as it changes every year. Last but not least is Florian, 18, who has big plans for Harvard School of Law. She has expressed interest in becoming a judge, and in interviews past, has stated that she dreams of becoming a Supreme Court Justice._

 _All of the Reiss children sport their family's iconic blue eyes and black hair._

 _However, our reporters at The Insider have found an anomaly within the Reiss family structure. All of Rod Reiss' children live in the White House, except for the eldest of the family, Frieda. Where has she gone? Why does she not live with her family?_

 _These are the questions that we asked ourselves. It is uncommon for a President's child, even in adulthood, for them not to live at the White House with their family. After uncovering some interesting findings, The Insider is ready to report to you._

 _Photos below picture Frieda Reiss living in Washington state, near one of the many ROTC sponsoring schools. At first we saw no motive for her living on her own except maybe to have her own independence. After a few hours of surveillance, we saw a young, blonde, teenage girl enter the house. Her resemblance to Frieda was uncanny._

 _Now, there has always been speculation of Rod Reiss' alleged bastard child. However, there has never been any evidence supporting this claim, except perhaps the president's affinity for women, and rumors of his promiscuity and unfaithful nature as a husband._

 _These pictures put this theory on the map. Clearly, this young lady does not share her half-siblings' mother. Her hair is as blonde as straw, though she has her father's big, blue, round, eyes. In addition to her eyes, her facial resemblance to Frieda is undeniable._

 _It appears that Frieda has left the White House of her own free will to take care of her younger half-sister,_

 _Below is a side-by-side comparison of Frieda and Jane Doe (though, should we say Jane Reiss?)_

 _How long will this stay a secret? It is only a matter of time before mainstream media gets a hold of this story. In times past, gossip websites have taken a shot at the POTUS, but none have able to come up with evidence._

 _So many questions remain. Does the young lady know that her father is the president? Does Missy Reiss know of her existence? Does the rest of the family know? Why is Frieda the only one taking care of this young lady? Where is her mother?_

 _And most importantly, what is this girl's name?_

 _The Insider will find answers to these questions. Until then, stay woke._

After finishing the article, I stared at the screen, wide-eyed, in a shocked silence. My mouth was gaping open. I re-read the article. Once. Twice. Three times. I double checked the pictures. They weren't wrong. Frieda looked just like Krista. And Frieda was the daughter of the president.

With how strange Krista had been acting whenever President Reiss took the stage, it all made sense. How she didn't like to draw attention to herself, or to her house, or to her sister. She was constantly living in secrecy. But what for? It wasn't her fault she was a bastard. It just meant that her dad was a huge man-whore.

It was clear to me, in that moment, that Krista had been ashamed of her very existence.

But at least someone knew the truth. At least I did. I could talk to her about it… I could be there for her. Listen to her when even when her father would not. I could do this for her! And she could finally open up to me. About everything.

I shut my laptop and gazed longingly at my _Xbox._ It would just have to wait for Krista.

I gave a whistle, and Shepard came tumbling into my messy room.

"Hey boy," I smiled at my dog, and crouched. "Wanna take a walk?"

His tail thumped around in a million different directions.

"Alright, let's go!"

* * *

I rang the doorbell to Krista's house twice in a row, impatient to see her. When she opened the door, she looked a little disheveled. I looked above her head to see her older sister, just like how she was depicted in the Insider's article. Her big blue eyes flicked towards me in acknowledgment. My gaze drifted back down to Krista.

"Oh! Ymir! How are you?" She smiled, but there was a little bit of anxiety in her eyes.

"Pretty good. Wanna go give Shepard a walk with me? I've kinda been slacking with it," I said sheepishly, scratching the back of my head.

Krista looked back towards Frieda, silently asking for permission. Frieda took a few steps towards the door, looking straight at me, analyzing me. She looked down to Krista.

"This is Ymir?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

I had the feeling Krista's older sister didn't like me one bit. Not at all.

"Uh, yeah. Hi."

"Can Krista hold your… dog… for you? I wish to talk to you for a moment," Frieda said.

I gave a small smile, trying not to be intimidated. There was nothing to be afraid of, nothing at all. What was there to be scared of, anyways? It was only Krista's sister. The president's daughter… who happens to have access to the Secret Service, or something. Panic began to set in. "Only if Krista wants to keep him company."

"I don't mind holding Shepard," She nodded. I handed her the leash as she stepped outside, and I stepped in. As soon as she was outside, she knelt down next to Shepard to scratch his torn up ear.

Frieda shut the door behind me then proceeded to square up her shoulders, and crossed her arms. My body tensed as if ready to get into a car crash. That was where we seemed to be going…

"I just wanted to say thank you," Frieda said.

I blinked, once, twice, three times, before snapping out of my stupor. "What?"

"Thank you for being her friend. Getting her out of the house. Supporting her, being there for her. I don't think I could have kept her afloat on my own."

"Er… of course!" I said, a little bit of the tension in my body lingering. Her living room was full of half-packed suitcases. Folded clothes were in neat piles on the couch, necessities were in small baggies on the ground next to the suitcases. I wondered where they were going.

"She speaks so highly of you, and I'm starting to understand why," Frieda stated, her eyes flicking up and down in observation. "You go out of your way to include her."

"I don't think she's some pity case, if that's what you're trying to make Krista seem like," I responded, keeping my eyes steady ahead. "She choses my companionship just like I chose hers."

Frieda gave a curt nod. "Which brings me to my next point… If you break my heart, so help me God, I will rain hell on you. Understood?"

I tensed up. "I'm not in it to break her heart!" I almost rolled my eyes at her, I would have, except she scared the living shit out of me. "I care a lot about her. So I'm being careful."

"I expect nothing less. Good talk, now go take care of my little sister."

I gave a mock salute, a crooked smile plastered on my face. "Aye, aye, captain."

Frieda actually did roll her eyes. "She fails to mention how huge of a dork you are. I suppose she's too blind to see it. You're a sarcastic shit… I have to appreciate your courage."

"Thank you," I smiled. "They say you have to be scared to be brave, right?"

Frieda gave a light chuckle. By far and away, I prefered Krista's. Frieda's laugh sounded as if were held down by a heavy weight while Krista's seemed to just float through the air at times. At others, her laugh sounded just as heavy.

"That is what they say. I will see you around, Ymir," Frieda said as she opened the front door back open, revealing Krista petting Shepard's chest while his tongue lolled out in happiness, obviously quite pleased with all the attention he was receiving.

"Ready to go?" I asked Krista as she stood up from the ground.

"Yeah!" She smiled at me. My heart jumped into my chest, kicking and bucking like a wild horse.

"Alright, have fun you two!" Frieda called from the house. She shut the door afterwards.

Krista turned to me, her big eyes upon me. "Well this is kind of spontaneous. Even for you."

I barked out a small laugh. "Am I some bum who can't be spontaneous and romantic?"

"I wouldn't consider walking your mutt spontaneous _or_ romantic."

"You're feeling savage today, aren't you?" I chuckled as we walked down her driveway.

"Very," She shrugged.

"What are the suitcases for?" I asked.

Without missing a beat, Krista responded. "Frieda is taking me on a surprise trip for Thanksgiving!"

"Dude that sounds fucking awesome!" I grinned.

"Do you have any plans?" She slyly changed the subject. I pretended not to notice.

"I'm actually not too sure. I think my dad's parents are hosting Thanksgiving this year. Not totally positive about that, though."

"Sounds like fun. Do you like Thanksgiving?" Krista asked. Our hands brushed up against each other.

"I like the food. And I like my family. So I guess I do. How about you?"

Our hands touched again. This time I swallowed my fear and laced my fingers through hers. She didn't move away, or flinch from my touch.

"I don't like the holidays. At all. Period."

"Story for another day?" I asked.

"Story for another day," She repeated.


	24. Chapter 24: Krista

**Chapter 10: Krista**

 **Thursday, November 26th, 2015**

We were lucky we didn't miss our connecting flight to Washington D.C in St. Paul, Minnesota, which basically had the worst airport I have ever been to in my seventeen years of miserable life. With all the added security since the terror attacks in Europe and the Philippines, it was nearly impossible to travel through the air, even if you were the president's daughter. People were frisked more than once, passed through multiple scanning machines, walked past many bomb-sniffing K-9 units. Even with the security clearance from wherever the hell it was from, entering the airport was extremely difficult especially since everyone working in the Transportation Service Administration were incompetent as ever loving hell.

Frieda and I were jogging through the airport, suitcases rolling frantically behind us, like starving rabid dogs chasing after our heels. My purse bobbed up and down, though it shouldn't really be called a purse, more like a satchel, and we made it to our boarding ramp just as the last passenger was stepping into the connector tunnel to go onto the train. If I hadn't been in shape from training and conditioning, I would have been wheezing. It felt like we covered a mile in three minutes. It didn't help that was hardly four in the morning, the sun hadn't risen, and I felt like a walking corpse. The flight attendant greeted us as we entered the plane that had a closed off section for the first class. That was us, the ones who could afford such luxuries. It was the curtain that separated any thought of anyone who had less than I had.

The seats were large and comfortable on this plane. I think it may have been an airbus, though I wasn't sure, it was bigger than most other planes I had been on, seeing how most of the other planes I had travelled on were private jets only capable of holding around twenty passengers. With all the gossip that was going on in the media, my father predicted it would be wiser to take public transportation to avoid drawing attention.

Like being in first class wasn't a dead giveaway. I took my seat in the awkward middle, between Frieda, who was on the outside next to the walkway, and some stranger who had the window seat, which was the best seat on the entire plane. I eyed the stranger enviously, and drummed my fingers on the armrest of my seat. The cool leather under my fingers began to warm.

Frieda, with dark circles under her eyes, turned to me with a small smile on her face.

"I'm glad we made it," Frieda sighed, with a roll of her shoulders.

I gave her a flat look. "I'm not."

My older sister gave me a slight frown, her brows furrowed. "I don't want to be here as much as you do. But what can you do, you know? Our dad is the president."

"He can go fuck himself in all honesty," I groaned. "I haven't had to wake up this early since… since I was a toddler!"

"Are you nervous for how things are going to go down?" Frieda asked.

"No, I can already see it play out in my head. My siblings, except for you and Abel, ignore me, Mrs. Reiss glances over to me occasionally with a disdainful look, and dad tries to pretend like he hasn't ignored my existence for his own convenience, and you will lie through your teeth with how pleased you are at how well the meals are going, and I am going to be conveniently in the bathroom most of the day."

Frieda opened her mouth halfway through my prediction, but shut it because it was so damn accurate. She chuckled slightly. "You know what? You're right. We could rent a car before landing… and we could just ditch dinner."

The idea seemed to be just fine. "I mean, like, that sounds great, but that also seems like something that would draw a lot of attention."

Frieda wiggled her eyebrows. "C'mon Histo- I mean, Krista, let go, let loose!"

I flinched at the use of my real name. Not my fake, pretend, liar's name. Krista was the name that belonged to the girl who knew how to smile, to be kind, to be social without trying to get out of it. Krista was the girl everyone liked, the goddess among mere mortals. Krista, the girl, who could cure sadness with a smile. The mask was only that- a mask. It molded to my face, suffocating who I was on the inside.

I was Historia Reiss, the unwanted pup of the litter, the pathetic runt. Historia was the girl who did not sleep, who did not like to eat. Historia was the girl who had been beaten and broken, discarded like an unwanted bouquet of flowers, and was twice as delicate. Historia was the girl who had a disdain for everyone, including herself. Historia was not a mask. She was me.

And I couldn't hide that.

Frieda's voice dropped to a low whisper. "Sorry."

I shrugged. "I'm going to sleep." So I did, leaning back on my comfortable chair.

* * *

Some men in black suits, with white shirts, black ties, crew cuts, and sunglasses came to pick us up after leaving the bustling airport that had almost begun to suffocate me. I felt like a caged bird, with only a taste of freedom on my tongue before being shoved back into a smaller, darker, prison. The truck had three rows, and there were two men sitting in the furthest back row. Frieda and I sat down in the middle row, a little awkward since we had nothing to do with our hands because the men in suits handled our luggage. There was a driver and a passenger in the front row. So that made four men guarding us, not including the ones I saw out of the edges of my vision. The ones that lurked in corners, hand up to their ear, murmuring unintelligible information into a bluetooth speaker.

That seemed a little excessive, even for my pretentious fuck of a father.

The windows were so dark I could hardly see out of them. Panic began to rise in my chest. The feeling of imprisonment was not a comforting one, though it seemed Frieda was hardly affected by the mobile jail cell we were put in.

I could vaguely make out the lines of the road we were driving on, and that we were slowly driving out of the city for security purposes. Why we hadn't just flown into a smaller airport in the country was beyond me, I just knew from memory that we were going to go a private airport to fly into the White House on helicopter, and by private, I mean, not even the general public knew about this. Or the rich politicians.

Another identical black truck pulled off of the side road and trailed behind us. The bodyguards in our own truck didn't say much. They hardly even acknowledged Frieda and I.

I hated them.

* * *

When we passed the kitchen in the hallway leading to the dining room, the sound of busing dishes clanked together. I reminded myself that the people working here, in the White house, were unable to see their own families on this holiday. All because of this stupid family.

On the bright side, the food smelled absolutely divine, as if it were sent straight from the gods. A wave of nostalgia hit me as I pulled out a fancy, mahogany, upholstered, wooden seat next to Frieda. Father sat at the head of the table. He had gained more weight from the last time I saw him. The magazines must have been doing him favors, photoshopping out his double chin, editing his thick frame.

My siblings, or rather, half-siblings, bobbed their heads in awkward silence.

Abel spoke up first. "Dad, you didn't tell us that Historia was coming."

"She's my daughter just as much as you are," Father pointed out.

"I wasn't complaining," Abel shrugged. "I would have gotten her something if I had known she was coming."

 _Why? So you can pretend that giving me a shitty present makes up for you ignoring me throughout my abused childhood?_

Frieda's jaw clenched. "Stop talking about her as if she isn't sitting at this table."

"No, no," Mrs. Reiss said. "Being aware of plans before they become reality is always a plus when it comes to planning."

"I always come to Thanksgiving though. It's not a surprise," I hissed. "But you can keep pretending like it is. It's fine. I know I'm not welcome."

"Hey, don't say that," Ulkin sighed, patience clearly running thin with the drama that was occurring at the table. He had a no nonsense attitude.

Too fucking bad, because I was filled to the brim with nonsense today. "It's not my fault I wasn't born to the same parents you all were."

A shocked silence pervaded the dining room table. Mrs. Reiss was clearly flustered by the truth, father looked incredibly uncomfortable, and my half-siblings had mixed reactions. Frieda was holding back an amused snort. Father opened his mouth to say something. He was going to put me down for being disrespectful. At that exact moment, waiters came stumbling into the room, putting a massive turkey in the center of the table. Plates of steaming sweet potatoes with brown sugar, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, boiled beets, fresh biscuits, everything I ever wanted for a Thanksgiving dinner, were put on the table.

"Wow, this sure does look good," Frieda said a little awkwardly. She could sense that I was going to say something that would ruffle the family's feathers. She should have known by then that I wouldn't stop what I had to say.

"You're right, Frieda," I responded slyly, loading a sweet potato onto my plate. "Food like this reminds me of all the family meals I had in my childhood."

One of the chefs dropped the silver platter they were holding. He scrambled to the ground, barely masking his amusement, grabbed the platter, and left the dining room. Father choked on his wine, which made one of the Secret Service agents jump out of his skin.

"Absolutely unnecessary," Father coughed. "There is no reason to ruin Thanksgiving."

Frieda's hand covered her face. "This family…" She muttered darkly.

Florian smiled uncomfortably, and she glanced over at me. She was a reflection of my own image. We had the same eyes, face shape. All that differed between us was the fact that my hair betrayed my heritage. Hers proclaimed purity, and practically royalty. Mine was the color of a lustful mistress, a henious affair. We were the same age. We were foils of each other; alternate universe that had collided, but weren't supposed to.

"How's school going?" She asked.

She was my second favorite out of my half-siblings.

I bobbed my head up and down, and decided against snapping at her. After all, I needed allies. The only one I had in my room at the moment was Frieda, so I had to keep playing my cards right. From what Frieda has told me, Florian's relationship with either of her parents were not solid. She wanted to distance herself from the family, as much as a daughter of the president could.

"I like the Army program, I'm glad I picked Maria High, I'm glad I came back to that school district after… after ah, moving."

Dirk, who had recently commissioned as a Naval Officer, snorted. "Army brat."

"Sailor's don't deserve to be happy," I responded with a small smile.

He chuckled.

Florian glanced between both of us, watching the exchange with interest. "You have a boyfriend yet?"

"Do you?" I shot back, a little more defensively than I meant.

"Yes, I do, so answer the question," She forked some potatoes into her mouth. She had the same dangerous glint in her eye that Frieda did when she wanted to stir up trouble. I had to admire her taste for disaster.

"Actually I'm gay so that's never going to happen."

"What?" Mrs. Reiss said, finally taking interest in what I had to say. She had been conversing with father previously, but now decided to acknowledge my existence.

"Yeah. You heard me right."

Father raised an eyebrow. "I suppose whatever makes you happy, makes you happy."

"My girlfriend hates your guts," I smirked.

Frieda looked at me questioningly. I gave her a slight shake of my head to let her know that Ymir wasn't my girlfriend… yet. I had to tell her about who I really was, and what I had been through, and I would tell her soon. At least, that's what I told myself.

"Too bad she doesn't know I'm the president's daughter…" I added, trailing off into an intentional silence.

"It's for your own safety, Historia. You would be a target if the public knew your true identity." Father said, wiping his beard off with a napkin. He set it down neatly on his lap. The discussion was closed. He had closed it because he didn't want to hear what I had to say. _Bastard._

 _Would I really be, though? Or are you just being a coward and trying to save your own skin? Your reputation would be shattered, as the All-American-Dad. Fuck you, and your selfishness._

* * *

 ** _A/N: I know this is pretty late, and for that I'm sorry. Procrastination really stinks, and since WriteOrDie has been down the past few weeks, it's harder for me to meet my goal of at least 300 words a day. Hope you all have had a nice two weeks. ~Chemistry God_**


	25. Chapter 25: Annie

**Chapter 25: Annie**

 **Tuesday, December 1st 2015**

Before this trip, I had only been on a plane once in my entire life.

This time was different, though. I was sitting next to my classmates and not my father or his friends. Or were they co-workers? I did not remember, and I did not care to remember.

The last time I was on a plane, we had moved away from New York, the city which my mother left me alone with an alcoholic monster. I was barely three years old when we went to the airport to leave for Washington state, where my father found a job (which he subsequently lost over two years ago). The memory, despite me being so young, seemed like it happened yesterday. The memory was crisp as a fresh apple. It was like a fairytale; magical, and ethereal. It all seemed like an adventure to me. A game of sorts. At the time I thought we were looking for mom because we were playing a really intense version of hide and seek. Not only were my innocent thoughts purged, but my entire life changed on that plane.

That was the day I met Zeke. The real Zeke, the one my cat's name takes after.

My father had fallen asleep after ordering one too many beers on the plane, burning away money that we needed to buy food, pay rent, and electricity with. My father was sitting in the seat closest to the aisle, and Zeke had the window seat. That was the one thing three-year-old me wanted, a chance to be able to see the outside from ten thousand feet up. It was a bright day, not that it could be dark above the clouds.

I must have sparked his interest somehow, or maybe I was annoying. Either way, Zeke and I ended up trading spots. He was the exact opposite of my father; while Zeke sported a well-kept beard, that was trimmed to perfection, my father had a six-o-clock shadow, and dark circles under his eyes. Zeke looked like the father I wanted to have. He resembled a man my mother would not leave, a man that kept track of his money. Zeke obviously was wealthy because he wore a suit that looked freshly pressed. His hair was styled as a CEO would; not a hair out of place.

With my father blacked out, Zeke struck up a conversation with me. Asked me about my family, about my dad. Zeke was very interested in him. Like, what kind of job he had, where he went to work. I did not know the answers to those questions as a toddler, but whatever I told Zeke, it kept him interested.

Zeke asked me where my mother was. That was when I started to cry, the moment I knew mommy was not playing hide and seek. As my father continued sleeping, Zeke comforted and consoled me. He asked me why I was going to Washington, and I answered him. He said that he was in charge of a day care company. Where he worked, I didn't exactly remember.

What I did remember, though, was him saying that he'd find a way to take care of me.

And he did.

Why I had been on that same plane as Zeke, the highest ranked member of the Syndicate, I did not know.

It didn't matter now, anyways. My path had been set.

"Okay, guys, can you like, move your shit? Before I lose mine? Thanks." Ymir's voice penetrated my thoughts.

"Ymir stop being a bitch," Connie muttered under his breath.

"Negatory, you bald asshole. Move your suitcase over. There's plenty of room in the cabinet," Ymir retorted. Her finger started to tap impatiently on the side of her leg, like how she always did when she was starting to become irritated.

"But I just sat down," Connie whined. "Can't you move it yourself?" Under his breath he added, "and I'm not bald."

Ymir pursed her lips in mock-thought. "You are bald, and you're a lazy shit. Get your ass up."

Connie gave a single grumble, but bowed his head in defeat, and stood up from his seat on the airplane. He brushed past Sasha, who was giggling into her hand lightly.

Connie grabbed his suitcase, which had a few zippers that were loose, and slid it over to the far side of the overhead compartment. All the while he was scowling. Once he was finished, he glanced over at Ymir with disdain.

"There, does that suit you?" Connie growled.

"You bet your monk ass it does. Thanks," Ymir grinned, which only made the vein in Connie's head throb more.

"Can you shits please sit down, and shut up?" Levi called from the front of the plane. Ymir snickered as she took a seat in between Marco and Eren. She chose the seat that was back from Connie's chair. With her stupid, little, immature smirk, she put her boots up on the side of the seat, and pushed.

"God damn it, Ymir!" Connie snarled and looked over the head of his seat. "You wanna fight?"

"I'd throw you out of this plane for a cheeseburger," Ymir laughed.

"I would do it for free," Connie said, beginning to crack a smile. Even he couldn't resist Ymir's playfulness. Connie looked over to the aisle where Mikasa, Krista, and I were. "Can you please control your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Krista responded promptly, and returned her gaze to the safety magazine she was reading.

And just like that, Ymir deflated like a child's mistreated balloon. She clamped her mouth shut, and not even Connie dared to poke at the bear.

With that small, mini-drama over with, I turned to Mikasa who seemed to be very distracted. "Are you doing alright?"

She looked up from her hands, which she had been fiddling with. "Yeah... I'm a little nervous about this trip, though. I don't know what to expect."

"It's supposed to help develop our leadership skills with all of the rest of the Army ROTC cadets in the country. It's a test," Krista explained.

"Yeah I already knew all that. But how are we going to be tested?" Mikasa responded with a little more bite in her voice than she usually had.

Krista, taken aback, stuttered. "Well, you can definitely count on a lot of yelling, from what I've heard."

"Seems like normal PT to me," Mikasa grunted.

I looked over Mikasa, trying to figure out what was bothering her. Something was definitely amiss. She was never moody, especially to Krista. I decided against saying anything to avoid upsetting her further. I attempted to comfort her with a hand on her shoulder, my thumb briefly stroking against the fabric of her t-shirt. She didn't even respond to the touch.

A pit formed in my stomach.

Something was definitely wrong.

It was about time, though. Things like this never lasted that long for me. They never worked out how they were supposed to, how they worked out in movies, or T.V shows, or books. My time of temporary security was up. _I'm sure you're just overreacting... calm down... Focus. Put the negativity out of your mind. You have an objective, and you shouldn't have let yourself stray from it._

My own advice fell on deaf ears. I pushed the thought out of my head the best I could. Sometimes, it got a little messy in my mind. Morals were messy.

It was probably the worst decision ever to have Bert, Reiner, and Jean sit together. Their snickers and stupid jock behavior did nothing to make me feel better. They were acting like animals, and Reiner and Bert were not acting their rank, they were not acting on their training.

Armin was the only one on the plane who kept quiet. He had the window seat. His head rested in his hand, which was propped up his elbow that was up against the small window sill.

He must have sensed my gaze on him, and he dropped his hand and turned his head. He gave a small but warm smile. I tore my eyes away from the innocent-looking blonde, and felt my cheeks burn like hell. I ignored the way my stomach began to do a summersault. _What the hell?_

Just when I was really starting to worry about what was going on in my head, my phone buzzed. I glanced down at the notification only to see Ymir, who had forgotten she got burned by the girl she fell in love with, had started a meme war. I decided to sit this one out.

Soon after, more buzzes came, with less and less space in between them. Irritated, I unlocked my phone and put the group chat on silent.

"You guys never stop, do you?" Krista asked the eleven of us. "I could stick my phone up my crotch, turn on the notifications, and just let it buzz like a fucking vibrator!"

Jean piped up from the back. "I'm sure Ymir would like that." Reiner and Bertolt high fived him.

"And I'm sure you'd like Marco's cock in your face, Jean, but we all can't get what we want," Ymir sneered back.

"Is anybody in our Goddamn friend group straight?" Connie asked.

Eren, Armin, and Sasha raised their hands. Connie raised his own. "I see we're out numbered, here, guys."

Next to me, Mikasa's arm twitched. I blinked. Had I imagined her hesitation in not raising her arm?

The sinking feeling in my stomach was back again. Was... was Mikasa even into girls?

I shook the thoughts from my head, one last time. There were other things to worry about, better things to worry about.

Levi began to stomp down the aisle of the plane. "Cadets. You twelve are always the worst. None of the rest of the plane is going up in a riot except you shits. I am begging you. It is a four hour flight from here to Juneau. And we have barely made it thirty minutes in the plane. We haven't even taken off yet. So please, for the love God, keep your traps shut, or I'm going to make you sleep outside of the cabins without clothes."

A chorus of 'yes sir's' filled the middle section of the cabin, where we all were seated.

I could barely make out the sentence Levi grunted under his breath. "You are the cadets from hell."

With that, Mikasa gave a slight chuckle, and I joined in too.

"Classic Levi," Mikasa snorted in amusement.

* * *

Two hours later, it was pitch black outside the window of the plane. The cabin lights had turned on, and they shined a soft blue. The group chat had calmed down some fifteen minutes ago, when the meme war was won by none other than Eren, which had been a first. We were nearing the arctic circle during the month of December. It was only the beginning of winter, but it seemed like the sun had already fallen off of the face of the earth. That's how it was during the winter time in the arctic circle.

Most of our training, which started crisply at five in the morning, would be conducted in the dark of night. That was all of the information that was given to us by Commander Erwin and Captain Levi. That, and all of the cadets from across the country were going to be participating in this training excersize with us.

I worried about my cat back at home. I knew very well my father wouldn't have been the one to take care of it, so I had to find help elsewhere. I found that help in a twelve-year-old girl who lived down the street. I gave her everything she needed to take care of Zeke. She was so excited to just be able to take care of the cat. Her mother wouldn't let her even have a cat.

I told the girl I would pay her once I came back, but she insisted that she didn't want to be paid.

The guilt forming in my chest after that conversation continued to build. Such innocence that child possessed.

She didn't even know...

* * *

 _ **A/N: Oh my god! It is good to be back, guys! I missed writing. School work was unbearable, and so was playing volleyball in addition to actually applying for an ROTC scholarship myself. I finally was able to take some time to write this weekend. I should be able to update more often, I promise. The last half of the story (we are a little over halfway done!) is going to be a lot more easy to write, as it is... ah... action driven, shall we say. ~Chemistry God**_


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